Douluo Dalu: Clear Amber Hammer King
by ArcMeow
Summary: A fantasy novelist dies and is reincarnated into the Douluo Continent as Tang Jin, heir of the Clear Sky School. It's a daunting legacy to live up to, but with the threat of an age old grudge, there's no choice left but to become stronger. I do not own Douluo Dalu.
1. Chapter 1

"Okay," the editor said, "to be frank, I don't think this'll fly."

The youth's chest tightened at the verdict but he took it all with a stride and sighed. He clenched his fist underneath the table and prepared for the worst to come.

"I understand, Mr. Han," the youth said. This was the third publisher he'd tried submitting to, and it also looked like the third to reject him.

"Look, Thomas." The editor rubbed his temple while the other hand held the manuscript. "This type of genre just isn't our thing. We're a science-fiction publishing house, not high fantasy." Mr. Han seemed to grow another five years as he said so. "And, okay, I do get what you're trying to do here, setting up this kind of magic system, but to just make up your own way of how the universe works and trying to encompass everything? That's just a bit much."

Thomas sighed again, trying to undo the knots in his stomach, but his breath caught on its way out and the huff sounded closer to a whimper. His cheeks warmed and his reflection's shoulders sagged, slouch growing and spirits deflating.

"Yes, Mr. Han. I'll withdraw this submission." Thomas shook his head, each turn almost creaking with the weight of failure after failure.

"I'm sorry Thomas," Mr. Han said while standing up. "Tell you what, I can put in a word for you to a friend over at Endless." Thomas' ears perked up at the consolation. "They translate light novels into English, and yours sounds a lot like one they might try dipping their hands into."

Thomas looked up, and could only nod at the consolation, speechless. Tears framed his eyes. The lines on the editor's face eased, and the youth was relieved at the sight. Perhaps there was some hope after all, he thought.

Thomas left the building with high hopes and a pocket full of dreams, one hand holding onto the manila folder, the other raised to the heavens. The dream wasn't over yet, he decided.

Then a truck came out of nowhere.

#

A lot had changed since then.

I lied amongst the flowers with a carpet of grass against my back. Under the shade of a great tree, a cool breeze blew by, bringing the scent of the morning sun and ruffling my robes. The glare shone against my pristine white clothes, and a flurry of dandelion seeds caught in my blond hair. It had been about four years now since I'd been reborn to this world, and at last, whatever doubt was left had evaporated together with the hopes of ever coming back.

I, Thomas Reave, have been reborn on this Doulou continent as Tang Jin, son of Tang Xiao of the Clear Sky sect and future heir of the Clear Sky School.

I breathed in the energy of the cosmos, trails of warmth emanating from my lungs and into my body, tracing pathways I only here learned existed. Like the pumping of blood, the warmth cycled through my torso then limbs before settling by my stomach.

I'd tried everything to try and wake up if this had been a dream when I first came to, but from the moment I'd been born—and that was rather traumatic—to my now lazing about and watching the clouds, there wasn't much doubting left.

I breathed out cold hazy wisps that dispersed in the morning sun—the impurities in my body—and relished the clean sensation. I took another breath and the energy cycled withn me again.

Most of the basics were the same in this world. The days also took about twenty-four hours, then there were also three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, but counting months was a bit weird. Other than that, it was alright. The language was similar to Chinese syntax, so learning wasn't impossible, and with a few of my uhh… perks, life wasn't so bad.

I took a deeper breath, and from my very extremities, the bounds of my self blurred and expanded before grasping a chunk of the free energies and pulled them in with a great heave. The surroundings seemed to lose color before the sunlight returned them all to their normal saturation.

Life was comfortable despite the lack of technology: there was barely any pollution, the food was plentiful and always fresh, and the people were relatively nicer. And, there was this cultivation thing and the spirit tools that made up for the lack of wonders of modern living.

That last great pull shoved a hot mass into my chest, and I willed my own energy to circulate together with it—culling the unbridled heat and dissolving it into my body. A solid feeling welled from wherever the nourishing power passed.

Big fluffy clouds crawled along the sky at almost eye level, the wind sending waves against the endless greenery. Large birds glided along the horizon, riding the calm winds of the mountaintop.

Our Clear Sky school made its home amongst a mountain range. It was beautiful here, with the sunrise and sunset all ours to enjoy together with the expansive vista. But, we didn't come here by choice. Rather, we were here in exile, following a shamed truce with the land's most prominent religion of Spirit Hall.

The elders of the sect say it was our fault, with my uncle kicking up a big fuss with the church's own elders—but my father says otherwise. He said uncle Hao was right for defending his wife, but sadly, strength is all that matters in this world. Reason and honor were only for those magnanimous enough to stay their hand when they had absolute power.

It's barbaric, but it's not like I can't get behind that way of thinking. Whoever stands on top is the good. Imperfect, but at least it doesn't come with the backstabbing intricacies of the life I've left behind.

I pulled from within and roused the mass of energy lying dormant i, and like coming out of the water, I felt a burden lighten as brilliant gold light shone from my body.

It was a bewildering experience when I learned of the peculiarities of this world, and even now, I still get goosebumps.

From the light, a Crown of clear amber condensed over my left hand and my heart danced in my chest. I took hold of the yellow crystal with both hands and set it on my head—and the world expanded before me.

The field filled with colors and burst into a hundred more hues, the breadth of each leaf and petal becoming crisp in my eyes. Each blade of grass beneath my back became distinct in a mess of sensations with a hundred different widths and lengths. Then the ever-changing wind traced along its path, the pockets of hot and cold guiding the twirling dance.

This was the same crown I'd written about in my story—it the manifestation of my soul, and it did most of what I wrote it would do.

As the world shifted into focus, I saw simple bars overlay my vision: displaying my current state. A big blue bar displayed a hundred percent spirit power, while a smaller red bar marked stamina sat underneath. Below all those further at the foot of my view was a bar marked cultivation while a number ten marked my level. I envisioned the Amber Crown to function like an operating system for managing magics, but I never expected it to display something like Spirit Power instead of Mana or Magic Power.

Just above the cultivation bar were nine empty boxes, which I figured spells or aspects would go into, but besides the ones I'd already written about, none else filled the slots.

To the far left of the empty boxes in a triangle of circles, were icons for the major aspects I'd written into the Crown—rather, into Amber Artifex. There was Eidos Interface, which allowed me to see my self as I would a program; Pranus Core, which allowed me to gather and store the energy of the cosmos—though I don't understand how this was a real thing; and Amber Domain, which expanded my soul to overlay others. The point of the domain was to serve as some scanner for learning what made things tick, but it didn't work as I intended. It allowed me to inspect myself, checking for any damages or strange conditions, but when expanded out allowed me to forcefully grab energies instead of learn, so it wasn't a complete bust. The fact that I understand part of whatever's happening was already good enough

I let the full breadth of my aspects loose, expanding my Domain and manifesting my Core. Near solid amber light spread out around me, dyeing the flowers and grass and roots in a brilliant gold, and from my Crown, a clear jewel appeared, siphoning that yellow light into my crown.

Letting out my Domain was like turning a dome of space around me into me. I felt everything within my space, down to the smallest bending of grasses or jittering of ants. And with my Core opened, assimilating energy was a bit less tedious since it all directly.

The sunlight around me dimmed—the brilliant rainbow of colors dulling with each hungry pulse. Slowly, the cultivation bar inched towards eleven, yet for the love of god just wouldn't.

When I awakened this Crown half a year ago, I was already at level seven and the next three levels after that were a piece of cake, but this last hurdle was just too much.

A rippling sensation touched my Domain and I turned my attention West, noticing the direction.

"Little Jin," echoed grandpa Shan's voice. "Come little Jin, we have lunch waiting for us."

I sat up from the shade and stood up, stretching my arms and legs and back. There was no stiffness in my limbs or any awkwardness to my movements, and my skin was taut and smooth and fair. Being young again sure was great.

I took a deep breath and raised my voice to its loudest, "Yes grandpa Shan."

I willed the spirit power to my legs, and an image of my body overlaid my view as a glow stirred from my gut and travelled down, indicating the reinforcement of spirit power.

My little hideaway was a few ways away from the main compound, and as long as grandfather Shan knew I'd gone beforehand, he usually wouldn't bother picking me up himself.

I leapt hard and felt the wind brush my robes and hair, it took a second before I hit the ground running, my little legs blurring together with my vision at the sides as I passed over hills and rocks and little beds of flowers.

Spirit power was useful for a lot of things, like recovering stamina or strengthening the body—it even did some strange stuff like that thing I felt touch my Domain earlier. That was grandpa Shan's way of finding me.

My breath was even despite the frantic running, and neither was my heart pumping hard. I kept my frenzied pace, the wind whipping my robes as my legs flew over the ground. Not long after, I saw the familiar grey and blue walls of the compound, and I retracted the spirit power in my legs, bringing everything back to a balance while letting the excess re-enter my Core.

I retracted my Crown too, lessening the ease of manipulating spirit power, and pushed open the heavy iron gates with a silent creak. My shoes padded against the stone tiles of the main corridor as I headed towards the dining hall. On my way, I passed the outer courtyard where some of my older cousins were practicing the sect's martial arts with their spirits—the Clear Sky Hammer.

My cousins stood about a meter apart from each other in a neat grid in the more than fifty by fifty-meter space, and swung their glowing black Hammers according to the instruction of uncle Zhang, brilliant ethereal rings of yellow shining behind them while uncle had four flying behind—two yellow and two purple, the ideal configuration.

Besides spirit power, there was this thing called spirits in this world—like the avatars of people's souls is how grandfather had explained it, and together with these spirits was the process of cultivation to develop them. Spirits were further divided into two categories: beast spirits and tool spirits, and our Clear Sky Hammer was a tool spirit.

The rings on the other hand, were the souls of spirit beasts, animals who cultivated like us humans and taken in by the spirit. But what they did and how to get them, besides killing a spirit beast—since I'd have to take its soul—I wasn't sure. Maybe absorbing it somehow maybe? But for sure it helped make spirit masters stronger.

I opened the door to the dining hall and saw grandpa Shan by a table with a generous feast for a boy of just turned four. Today was my birthday, and supposedly the day when my spirit was awakened just like all my other cousins before me—just earlier. But then, wasn't my Crown my spirit? Though the expectation was to get a Hammer, so, uhh sorry family if I don't have it.

"Come little Jin, eat." Grandpa Shan beckoned me to the table.

"Good morning grandpa." I took my seat. There was a light soup and some steamed buns and tea boiled eggs, my favorites.

"Eat well and we'll have the ceremony with your cousins later," he said, "your father will be there to watch, so you better be on your best behavior."

I nodded. "You know I always am." I brought up the small bowl of egg drop soup to my lips and took a light sip.

"No harm in reminders." He sipped at his own. "And if you'd like, you can keep wearing your crown even in the compound."

I stopped sipping from my bowl. At that, he laughed with a bellowing roll, and I answered with a grimace. I'd already known he'd known of me using my Crown, but it pays to keep up appearances.

"I'd expected you to be more surprised," he said while stroking his beard. He removed the steaming paper from his bun and bit into the soft white bread.

"I never intended to keep it secret, grandpa." Which was the truth, but shame on me for finding it embarrassing to have a different spirit from my family. "I just don't like being different."

He nodded to that and huffed. "Bah, so what? Us spirit masters only have our pride and strength to prove it with." He smiled at me and ruffled my blond hair, his greying eyes meeting my gold.

Everyone else in the family had their hair and eyes in shades of black to brown, so there was a bit of commotion with my birth—as I'd heard from rumors later on. But according to grandpa Shan, both mother and father knew they'd only had each other ever since, so it was already deduced I probably had a variant spirit—like a mutated version of the sect spirit, though they weren't sure whether good or bad.

I'd say good though since it was _my_ spirit.

"I understand," I said, and finished off my soup in one go, feeling the trail of hot liquid down my throat in all its sweet and salty goodness. "I'd like a second bowl please." I held the empty bowl out.

"Good, good," he said, laughing again.

And just like that, we continued eating.

#

After our meal, I was told to bathe and get dressed for the occasion.

One of our sect's colors were the endless blue of the sky, so me and the other children who've just turned six—since the elders, namely grandpa Shan, wanted to do it all in one day—were to undergo our spirit awakening in our formal robes. It was already a foregone conclusion and everyone was bound to get while I was sure to get a Crown.

The real clincher then was how high our innate spirit powers would be, and if I were to completely trust in my spirit which even I didn't completely understand, I'd surely have the maximum level on awakening. Even if I cultivated it myself from a still high seven.

I stepped out onto the courtyard and saw the whole darn family watching. Which is to say, a lot of people. There was only three in mine coming from the directly descended line: me, my father and mother—since grandfather Shan wasn't directly related. But there were numerous branches, and altogether, us third generation children numbered upwards of twenty, with five of us taking this awakening this year.

There were quiet murmurs together with the giggles of children and proud cooing of their parents, and uncles, and aunts, while I stood apart by myself. My parents were still in the inner hall with the elders, and I was admittedly not the friendliest of kids. Not a lot of people—read as young cousins—would bother pestering the future clan head, so I mostly stuck to myself growing up and did whatever people here did for fun: cultivate. Which was the only real thing to do, though admittedly, taking in the energy of the universe is a pretty cool experience.

The elders stepped out of the inner hall with grandpa Shan and father leading the procession, and the whole courtyard hushed. Those eight people in fancy robes of black were the highest authorities in the sect, and by right of inheritance, so too was I. Though I didn't have much use for it. They were dressed in the color of the Clear Sky Hammer's power, and together, it represented the fickle nature of the sky with the clear blue.

They stood in a line in front of everyone else, then grandpa Lin stepped out with his iconic pot belly and short beard. "We have gathered here today," he announced in a stately voice, "to witness the awakening of our sect's third generation disciples. Please come forward."

From the crowd, five of us stepped out in shimmering sky blue robes, me shorter than all the others. We then walked towards the line of elders and formed a line of our own in front of them before bowing once. Father and mother smiled at me, and grandpa Shan huffed, the pride clear on his face.

"Now, please step forward from the youngest to the eldest. Starting with little Yan." Which naturally meant I was left for last.

Grandpa Lin's hands flashed and produced a crystal clear ball the size of my head in one hand, while a gigantic black war Hammer materialized in the other. His spirit had a handle about as long as his arm and the head was bigger than his own torso—completely unlike the mallet looking spirits of my older cousins, or the larger but still just as proportioned one of uncle Zhang.

But even more surprising was the number of rings behind him, altogether, there were nine: two yellow, two purple, and five black. And from the light his Hammer released, the air seemed to congeal and solidify around his dense and visible aura.

"Tang Yan, step forward and we'll awaken your sprit," said grandpa Lin.

Yan bowed again before stepping up. He was the youngest of us and had a half-shaved head with a mild manner to him, only speaking after spoken to or always helping with cleaning the yards/

With a wave of his hand, that enormous war Hammer floated with a slow and deliberate grace towards Yan, then grandfather Lin made him touch the head with both hands.

The Hammer glowed in deep black, and Yan's eyes shone with the same light—a small Hammer appearing in his hand, its handle just right for him to grip. It had a burgundy shade to it and some swirling patterns on its rounded head. Despite everyone sharing the same core spirit, no two were exactly alike since no two souls were the same either.

Grandpa Lin then presented the crystal ball to him, taking back the large Hammer. Yan obliged, putting his hands over the smooth ball.

It issued a glow less majestic than the earlier black and Yan's body released a white light that darkened over time.

"Clear Sky Hammer, with innate spirit power of four," said grandpa Lin, and the people around us broke into applause.

Yan stepped back into line, blushing, but the smile on his face wouldn't go away. After that was Daiyu with also a Hammer, and hers had a bloody red body and jagged black lines adorning it. She had an astounding innate spirit of six, eliciting thunderous applause. Lihua followed, her Hammer having an off-white body and purple scales, and her innate spirit power was also four, getting just as much praise. Last was Bai with spirit power of five and a mustard colored Hammer with a solid square head.

After Bai stepped back into line, father raised a hand and everyone fell into solemn silence. It didn't take a fancy crown to know all eyes trained on me.

"Tang Jin," said grandpa Lin, his voice echoing in the still courtyard. "Please step forward."

I could already tell this was going to go weird. Grandpa Shan met my eyes, and a glint flashed in them. Meanwhile, curious eyes dotted the rest of the people at the fronts.

My feet carried me towards the elders, butterflies skittering in my gut. There were hushed whispers here and there, and my father's face was impassive, next to him was my mother, just as stoic as the rest of the elders except for grandpa Shan.

"Tang Jin presents himself," I said, then bowed to the congregation.

"Tang Jin," said grandpa Lin, "step forward."

I did so and stood without ceremony, the extra attention I could do without. Grandpa Lin again presented his Hammer, and I raised my hands towards it.

"But before that," grandpa Shan cut in, "don't you have something to show us first, little Jin?" He had on a knowing smile, and though my father and some of the elders gave him chiding looks, none of them protested. Startled sounds came from the crowd.

Why was I not surprised?

"By that, grandfather, could you specify?" I narrowed my eyes at him, making sure to frame my expression away from the other onlookers. He raised an eyebrow back.

"Naturally, your spirit," he said with a bellowing laugh.

The quelled whispers returned with a vengeance, gasps rising from different voices. Grandpa Shan looked like he was enjoying himself, while all the other elders had mixed expressions. I kept my face straight, no need to fan the flames any more than necessary.

"Understood," I said. It would have been cheeky to refuse after having it spelled out.

I extended my left hand and willed my Crown into being, my body lightening and my consciousness sharpening to an edge. The same golden light condensed in my palm, and the commotion hushed itself. None of the elders looked surprised, it wasn't exactly kept secret, just not publicized.

I put on my Crown and my awareness grew back into its true glory. From the corners of my vision, shocked looks decorated the rest of the attending clan members, some staring in disbelief, some still with dumb stares, and my fellow generation of just awakened cousins speechless beyond reprieve. I sighed and pursed my lips at grandpa Shan.

"As requested, Tang Jin presents his spirit." I kept my gaze level with grandfather Lin, his skin smooth despite the advanced age and greyed hair. His youthful appearance was one of the pros to becoming a spirit master, since the cultivation of cosmic energy nourished the body way more than any earthly food. It wasn't such a hard concept once you got past the whole cosmic energy thing.

"Impressive," said grandpa Lin. "And I suppose you'd like to skip this ceremony?"

Most of those watching waited with bated breath. It was annoying to be so aware of all these reactions. "I'd like to continue regardless, grandfather," I said, bowing again.

He nodded back, "Very well."

He presented his Hammer, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. I set my hands on the spirit, and felt my own spirit power touch his as my eyes closed.

There came a push, at first a gentle nudge, as Grandpa Lin's spirit power enveloped me in a vast veil of weight, the energy swirling around and spinning my spirit power together with it as a rising feeling started from my chest. It went on and kept spinning faster, and I breathed in the energy of the universe, adding more into the growing swirl.

My Interface displayed the cultivation bar slowly trickling towards eleven ang the spinning pulsed with a great heave, sending a wave of energy roiling into my body and throwing my breathing in disarray. With a quick wave of my Domain, the excess energy was tamed and absorbed into my body, a sliver of heat circulating in time with the outside.

Then came a wave, and alarms rose in my Interface, indicating the unexpected power entering, but before my Domain could capture it, another wave came, followed quickly by another and another, and the swirling became a maelstrom. My breath caught in my chest and my stomach turned in spasms, the oversaturated energy becoming sickening and the gentle heat turned into a blaze.

Without any other choice, I pushed the energy out, consuming my spirit power as the blue bar drained a quarter in one go. And still, the maelstrom kept all that chaos contained with me in its eye and I could only by blown like a leaf in the wind.

In desperation, I opened Pranus Core, and the torrential power poured directly into my soul like a waterfall of boiling water washing down the crown of my head and body. It alleviated the burning with another but another heave broke through, and I lashed outward with my Domain in some vain effort to stay the fires.

I pushed again with all the spirit power I had left and there came a lull in the torrent—a silent space within the raging storm, but the emptiness quickly filled with the purified energy.

The temporary reprieve died out, and the torrent came back with a vengeance, pushing Pranus Core to the brink. But it was also in that lull that I felt something throb, and all that new spirit power rushed towards into that presence seemingly disappearing into nowhere.

I pushed everything into that black hole, and no matter how much entered, no limit was felt within reach.

With the unexpected break, my eyes opened to see my right hand stretched out as Grandpa Lin broke out with a surprise.

More and more energy entered my body and I urged it all to enter my hand, my Domain's light piercing through the swirling black yet still lost in that vast sea. There came another push, and my Domain kept pushing wave after wave into my hand, a speck of black growing in the golden aura.

Grandpa Lin's eyes widened as a smile traced on his lips behind the beard. The cultivation bar just beneath my vision was already half-way towards eleven, the progress in these few moments far greater than the last half-year I'd been trying.

My spirit power had replenished back to full, and seeing that spot of black, I pushed everything I had into it, then the gold film around me dissolved completely into that small speck and I fell to my knees with an irresistible force dragging my right hand down and cracking the courtyard floor.

The pressure stopped then, and grandpa Lin wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead, a big grin plastered on his face. His eyes were locked where mine were too, and thanks to my Crown, everyone else's eyes were glued to the same spot.

In my hand, completely devoid of light, was a little black Hammer.


	2. Chapter 2

I sat up from my bed in the cool and dim room, awoken by the rumbling of my stomach.

A dark sky loomed outside the window, and from the moonlight, by my tableside was a long-cooled tea-boiled egg covered with a light cloth and already peeled. I ate the snack without a second thought and got up, and tripped, falling onto the wooden floor on my finger tips to a feather's landing.

My body felt wrong.

I pat myself down and felt for any pains and found none. My breathing was right, there was no stiffness to any of my joints, and neither did I have a fever, everything was alright as confirmed in Interface. Yet despite all the okays, there remained that strange sensation of something unfamiliar. I tried standing myself up and found an uncanny sense of vertigo as I rose. Panic flashed through me, and I pulled from within and summoned my Crown.

The room lit up in gold, and my bars displayed one hundred percent for both spirit power and stamina while the cultivation bar sat at the knife's edge towards eleven. No notifications of any injuries or unknowns arose even after that little spell. I willed my Domain inwards anyway and the redundant scan showed nothing wrong.

I breathed out and settled my nerves. The events from this afternoon came back to me in pieces: grandpa's pushing, my Domain getting suppressed, then that shattering before my Hammer appeared. I held my right hand in front of me and concentrated spirit power into it, black light surging in clumps and mixing with the gold. Two new icons sat to the right of Interface across the three aspects, displaying both my Crown and Hammer.

I retracted my Crown and the gold light replaced with black, and the icon for it hollowed into an outline. I retracted my Hammer and brought out my Crown, the black light replaced with gold, and the icon for it became just like the Crown's. Then I brought both out and both icons became solid at the same time, all this while, the nine boxes remained unchanged—but something told me they were related somehow.

My stomach grumbled again. Food was my top priority right now, and whatever conjectures I had would have to wait. I went out of my room and headed for the dining hall, the golden glow illuminating the dark halls. Interface displayed it was three in the morning.

Padding with bare feet, the cold floor was wonderful despite the biting sensation of hard grit. One of the attendants patrolling the halls noticed me and ran straight for the elder's hall. When my Hammer appeared, not even one person clapped or celebrated from the rest of the family—the oldies sure had a field day though.

I sighed and continued my way—but I felt the same wave of presence touch my Domain. A second later, grandpa Shan appeared before me, wisps of spirit power betraying the calm night with a flourish.

"Little Jin!" he said, "something wrong?" He had on a frantic look.

"I'm alright grandpa," I said, finding the peculiarity of feeling dizzy despite everything being alright unpleasant. "I'm just really hungry."

"Of course, of course," he said matter-of-factly, he tucked me under his arm. "Come little Jin, eat as much as you need."

He didn't bother making me walk, instead carrying me all the way to the dining hall before waving a hand over the kitchen counter, calling up a still steaming hot feast from the dining storage tool. Our kitchen had a large spirit vault that allowed it to store still hot food for a time, and it was for times like these that there was always food in it. Children undergoing cultivation usually spent themselves too long and too much, and forgetting to eat in between training wasn't unheard of.

Grandpa Shan sicced me on the food and I kept wolfing down steamed bun after steamed bun and slurping noodles and soup and eating whatever else was there. My hunger was profound, like I hadn't eaten in days and no matter how much I ate, it was still like filling up an empty cavern.

"You look taller, little Jin," grandpa said.

"I do?" I said between mouthfuls of stewed pork.

"Your second awakening was worth the effort then," he said.

I finished off another bowl of soup before saying, "Maybe that's why I've felt so dizzy all this time?"

"It'll pass," he said. He raised a snowy white eyebrow, "And little Jin, could you let me see your Hammer again?"

I shrugged and called my other spirit, the gold light from my Crown lessening in brightness when its black aura spread. The hammer was heavy, but not to the point of straining my right hand—though I had to reinforce it with spirit power to keep it aloft.

"Impressive," he said, leaning closer to inspect the deep grooves along its entirely black surface. The hammer was intricate but everything on it was a uniform jet color, there were no shadows to be noticed or highlights besides where the aura undulated. "And how is it that you have your Crown out?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I slurped the last of the noodles.

"Of the only two cases of twin spirits ever recorded, neither could summon both at the same time, little Jin."

"You do keep calling me a genius," I said. Still, if what he said was true, then it was also possible my Crown wasn't a spirit per se.

He laughed in his usual boisterous way, then stopped once he'd realized the time. "That, we do," he whispered.

Having finished the feast for four, I leaned back against the wooden counter, retracting my Hammer but leaving on my crown. Now that everyone knew I had two spirits, there was no longer a need to avoid showing off. "So, what comes next after having innate spirit power of ten?"

After awakening my Hammer, I underwent the same spirit power test as everyone and got the full ten like I'd hypothesized. And again, no one clapped, but jaws had to be picked up off the floor. Grandpa smiled. "It means we need to get you your first spirit ring, little Jin."

"Ah," I said, not at all surprised at the connection. "Is that also why I can't seem to break through the eleventh rank?"

All pretense of playfulness dissolved, his eyes taking on a sharp light. "You're already at the cusp of the tenth rank?"

"I'd say it was thanks to grandpa Lin, I'd been trying to breakthrough to eleven for half a year now, and I was only able to make so much progress after what he did earlier."

"My gluttonous little Jin ate so much of Old Lin's spirit power?" He laughed in his usual boisterous way, and stopped halfway, quieting to a snicker. I knew my Domain could devour energy when directed outside, but to affect other people was a lesson I wasn't willing to learn on just anyone. "Back to the matter." He cleared his throat. "Every spirit master requires a Spirit Ring to breakthrough to the next level of cultivation, and each breakthrough happens at the next rank after a multiple of ten."

I nodded.

"To break towards eleven, the first spirit ring is needed. Then at twenty-one, thirty-one, forty-one, and so on." He manifested his Hammer and nine rings floated around him. "For each ring obtained, a corresponding title is earned. The first ring earns you the right to call yourself a Spirit Master, then Grandmaster, Elder, Ancestor, King, Emperor, Sage, Douluo, and finally as Titled Douluo."

"That meant uncle Zhang was a Spirit Ancestor. And since you and grandpa Lin have nine both, you are both Titled Doulou?"

"That is right, grandpa is called the Storm Cloud Douluo, and your grandpa Lin is Thunder Clap Douluo."

"Then that must mean father is also a Titled Douluo? And if father respects uncle that much, then he too must be of the same strength?"

"Truly worthy as our little genius. Yes, that is right. Even if that fool Tang Hao had hurt our sect so, he was still this generation's Clear Sky Douluo, the next strongest of our school since your great grandfather Tang Chen founded it, even stronger than I or your father by leaps and bounds."

"And of course, Spirit Hall also has these Titled Douluos?"

"Unfortunately, little Jin, but they wouldn't have been able to establish their foundation in the continent otherwise."

"I understand, grandpa." Wait, given this trend of a ring every ten… "But what about the tenth ring?" Grandpa stroked his beard, nodding. "If we follow the trend of a ring every breakthrough, why are there only titles of up rank ninety? By simple trend, wouldn't it be natural to expect a tenth ring?"

"Dear little Jin, no one in written history has ever reached the mythical rank one hundred." Grandpa shook his head, but his eyes betrayed a twitch. "At most we know of someone who has reached the absolute threshold of ninety-nine, but besides that, we know of nothing else."

And for us to cower from Spirit Hall was most likely from that.

"But enough of that you cheeky brat," he said with a chuckle, "to reach the absolute pinnacle of Spirit Masters is still a long way away for you." He ruffled my hair. "For now, we should focus first on getting you to rank eleven."

"Alright, grandpa." With hope, I wouldn't have to open that can of worms until way later into the future. Level ninety-nine sounds so daunting coming from a measly ten. "And when and how will we get this ring of mine?"

Grandpa poked my cheek. "Get some more sleep first, we'll talk about this again after the sun had risen."

.

#

.

I woke up with the sunlight on my face and a cool air in the room. This was one of the things I loved about living in the mountains, the temperature was always just right—since I preferred the cold.

I got up and got dressed sliding my arms into the fine cotton and tying up my sash. The vertigo from a few hours ago had passed, and Interface displayed the time at nine in the morning. Grandpa Shan had something planned for later, so maybe we'd get my first ring. I manifested my Crown, bathing in the clarity and jumped out the window, willing spirit power to reinforce my legs.

I landed on my toes without a sound, the grass beneath my feet laid uncrushed. With a push of power into my legs, the spirit power bar drained with a steady trickle, and I jumped as the wind hit my body like a rush of water, substantial and plentiful. One thing I'd noticed after awakening my Hammer was that my spirit seems to have taken a more unbridled nature. Where before it was still and clear, now it seemed to rage and echo within me.

I ran back towards my little hideaway, expanding my domain under the sunlight and stifling the consumption of spirit power as I moved. There was an explosiveness to each step, and the ground was indented with little footsteps. My cultivation bar no longer displayed any changes, but from the depths of my core, I could still feel a hollowness.

"Little Jin," came grandpa Shan's voice. "Come, we must be off early."

I stopped in my tracks and turned back. If it was a simple trip to the nearby Heaven Dou Empire capital, the whole distance wouldn't take any more than about three hours of grandpa's hard running. He'd taken me there before when I was younger to see a bit of the outside world, and that was also when I'd first learned of spirit power. Grandpa ran like the wind, over tree tops and unimpeded by both hills or mud and he laughed all the way when he saw my surprise.

When I reached the gates, I was directed by one of my cousins to head for the main hall. I got there a moment later and had a big steamed bun shoved in my face by my mother while father was talking to grandpas Shan and Lin about something.

"My little Jin grows up so fast," said mother with a smile. She gave me a small rucksack and a less regal set of robes. "Now go change immediately and you'll be off with your grandfathers for a few days."

"Aren't you excited to get your first spirit ring?" asked grandpa Shan. Grandpa Lin and Father stood next to him, both with a smile.

"Just a little," I said. "Since I don't understand yet how getting a spirit ring even works."

Grandpa Shan waved a hand in front of him in a dismissive gesture, "I'll explain when we get there, me and your grandpa Lin here will take you to Star Dou Forest in a bit so eat your fill and we'll be off as soon as possible."

Father bent down to one knee in front of me, "Trust in your grandpas to get you a good spirit." He then placed a small knife in my hands. "But you'll have to be the one to strike the killing blow."

I tilted my head at him, and extended my right hand, summoning my Hammer. "I already have this, father."

He pursed his lips at that. "I'm not so sure beating some spirit beast with your hammer will be a very pleasant sight."

I shrugged. "I'll get over it."

"Grandpa Shan?" father turned to him, and mother joined her husband's stare with a glare while grandpa Lin shook his head, his glasses sliding off his nose a bit.

"That's all him," grandpa Shan said.

"He's not wrong," I said.

Grandpa Lin cleared his throat. "We should be leaving soon."

I was corralled to get changed and fed another bun and mother fussed over me until we reached about another hundred meters away from the compound. It took father reigning her fierce motherly instincts back before grandpas Shan and Lin could really cut back on the brakes. I ran together with them for a while, expending most of my spirit power just to keep up without lagging. Where my legs exploded against the ground, my grandpas' toes just brushed against the grasses and they glided as if on air, barely stirring up any of the blades or flowers in their paths.

We stopped when we reached a sheer cliff face, with the clouds near our feet. Today was a cooler morning than usual so the clouds hung lower, I could just faintly make out the outline of the forest below us even with my Crown on. From here on out, we'd no longer be within Clear Sky lands, the time read nine forty-seven.

"Little Jin, grab on tight," grandpa Shan said.

"Yes grandpa," I said, and climbed onto his shoulders. The last time we went to the capital, we took the gentler slope down, so this path was new.

"Star Dou forest is one of the three great hunting grounds of this continent little Jin," said grandpa Lin. "And we'll be sure to get you the best spirit possible.

"Don't you think it's a bit much to have two Titled Douluo escort me though?" I said.

Grandpa Lin raised his eyebrows at me before glaring at grandpa Shan. "We place foremost importance in the future head of the Clear Sky sect, and of course, your grandpas also dote on you," he said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure we're not expecting trouble from Spirit Hall?"

Grandpa Lin frowned at grandpa Shan who shrugged in reply. "This silly old man sure has his way with words." Grandpa Lin sighed. "No little Jin, we are not expecting trouble with Spirit Hall."

"Hmm, then Star Dou forest has some strong Spirit Beasts then? At least possibly as strong as Titled Douluos?" It made sense coming from a cultivation point of view.

Grandpa Shan nodded with a chuckle. "That's our little genius for you, old Lin."

Grandpa Lin smiled as well. "We're fortunate you inherited your wits from your parents," he said.

My grandpas then nodded after each other, and both leaped into the unknown at an angle, forward and away. The wind roared in my ears, and I protected myself with a coat of my own spirit power, lessening the numbing feeling of the frigid wind hitting me.

"Oh, sorry little Jin," said grandpa Shan.

Then a wave of black light surged from all around us, and wisps of cloud came apart even before our bodies hit them. I could sense that both grandpas Lin and Shan had released their own spirit power, and that the sheer pressure was enough to physically drive the vapor and winds away with a shell of about three meters around us.

Our home was about a kilometer and a little bit more above the ground, and with the effect of gravity roughly being the same as about with Earth, then even at just a kilometer we'd end up falling at a little over five hundred kilometers per hour at just before the point of impact. And with my and grandpa Shan's weight at a conservative eighty kilograms, then we'd be crashing towards the forest with the same force of about getting run over by a small school bus running at sixty kilometers per hour.

All that flashed through my head in the span of moment, it was one of the lesser aspects of Interface that allowed me to make better use of mental calculations and memory called Brain Charger. With it, I effectively gave myself an eidetic memory with an indexing function, so it wasn't too far off to say I had an operating system running in my head.

It took us about sixteen seconds of falling—which translated to about a kilometer and three hundred meters—to reach the tree tops, after which a quick pulse of black light from grandpa Shan allowed us to land with a small crater in the ground and continue running. Grandpa Lin landed the same way and off we sped through the woods, the underbrush passing like a running river beneath the two octagenarians.

"Little Jin," grandpa Lin said, "you make sure to only use your crown if we ever meet anyone, alright?"

"We're supposed to be a sect in hiding," grandpa Shan added, "and our Clear Sky Hammer's fame still rings true even after all these years. Best err on the side of caution, yes?"

I frowned at the two. "I doubt I'm going to be as eye catching as two old grandpas running like the wind through the forest."

"But you forget." Grandpa Lin smirked. "You're getting carried by these two grandpas running like the wind through the forest."

I shrugged. "You do have a point."

"And what better news than to have a little boy escorted by two old grandpas wielding the Clear Sky Hammer bring out his spirit when he looks like someone who should be looking for playmates instead of spirit rings, hmm?"

"Okay, fair." I sighed. "But is it really that weird?"

The two grandpas shared a look.

"Old Shan, we really should bring little Jin out of the sect more."

"I agree old Lin." Grandpa Shan shook his head. "I fear this boy will grow without a clue of the state of the real world otherwise."

I cleared my throat. "I'm right here, you know."

"Not only is he unconventionally rude." Grandpa Lin crinkled his nose at me with a twinkle in his eye. "But he's also got a silver tongue."

I crossed my arms. "I don't sweet talk my way out of things."

"But you admit to being rude," grandpa Shan said with a smug grin.

"I'm a sweet little child," I said, poking my own cheeks with my index fingers. "I'm entitled to be cute."

Grandpa Shan tsked with transparent disdain. "If you're cute then I'm not a Titled Douluo."

Grandpa Lin cuffed grandpa Shan and huffed. "Hush old Shan, you never know who might be listening."

"Would it kill you to hold back, you old fart." Grandpa Shan rubbed his head.

I couldn't see the forest for the trees, rather, for the blur of brown. Grandpa Shan moved with little nudges left and right, weaving a path like water through a cluster of stones. Fluid and graceful despite his overbearing spirit power. He moved the way nature would, as if he was meant to be there in that point in time. Mesmerizing to watch, and daunting to fathom.

"Grandpa Shan," I said. "How far away is the Star Dou Forest anyway?"

"It's about eight hundred Li of our home, little Jin."

"And we're planning to cover this before nightfall?"

"No, no," grandpa Lin said, "before sunset should be fine."

"Oh." These old geezers were fucking crazy! A li was approximately a third of a mile from what I'd observed, and six hundred was roughly two hundred miles, and to think we'd left at a quarter before ten and we're planning to get there by around four or five in the afternoon? Then that'd mean they'd be running for at least forty miles an hour for like six hours straight.

"Little Jin." Grandpa Shan waved a hand in front of me. "Are you alright?"

I shook off the shock. "I'm alright," I said, "just surprised at how fast and far we'd make the journey for."

"What for?" grandpa Lin asked. I swear, these old guys are just as clueless as me about the real world. "And what's with that sour look?" Grandpa Lin's lips turned up into a smirk. "Amazed with these old grandpas?"

I stared at him, and the two practically navigated these woods without bothering to look left or right or even forwards all the while maintaining this speed of at least forty miles an hour without breaking a sweat. "Yes, I'm amazed," I admitted.

"D-did little Jin just praise us?" grandpa Shan turned to me with mocked surprise.

"You grandpas running like the wind really _are_ running like the wind," I said, "of course I'd be amazed." I'd be damned if I weren't.

True to their word, we arrived at some strange frontier city before sunset, though we had to stop a hundred or so meters away from the actual place. I was relieved to hear there was at least _some_ common sense to this world, and apparently, people running faster than should normally be possible still counted as weird and frightening. So that was good. At least some of my sensibilities here weren't completely for nothing.

"We're here," grandpa Shan said while letting me down.

"And remember," grandpa Lin said, "do not bring out your spirit, and unless you really must, then only use your Crown."

"Understood grandfather," I said using the formal way. To make these two old people cautious enough—and the rest of the Titled Douluo leveled elders wary, Spirit Hall for sure wasn't to be taken lightly.

"Little Jin, old Lin," grandpa Shan said, "take these." He passed us a wide brimmed bamboo hat each and put on one himself.

"You weren't carrying anything," I said, wearing the hat.

Grandpa Shan furrowed his brows at me before something dawned on him. "I have this spirit tool like the one in the kitchen," he said, bringing out a little suede pouch. "It has about five cubic chi of space, not terribly large, but comfortable enough for a few days' travel."

A chi was about twenty centimeters, and five cubic chi would mean roughly a cubic meter of space, not bad at all for carrying a tacky little pouch at all times. "There were smaller versions of the one we have in the kitchen?" People carry around little pocket dimensions around with them?! Like freakin' Doraemon?!

"Now that you mention it, you've never asked me that before," grandpa Shan said. "And you're giving me that look again."

Grandpa Lin leaned closer. "No, that's different. That one looks more like he's annoyed than amazed."

"Oh," grandpa Shan said, "you want one too?" He held up his little pouch that broke everything I knew of the conservation of matter and energy. Then again, spirit power was already a huge ass rule breaker, what was a few other laws of nature getting upturned compared to qi being a real thing.

"Yeah, now that's the look where he's amazed," grandpa Lin said.

My cheeks flushed at the attention. "Yes," I said, "I'd like to have one of these as well." Just imagine all the crap I can horde in that thing! I could keep a tent there, maybe a few clothes and some emergency rations—hell, I can even use that to pickpocket stuff. And now that I think about it, I never bothered learning about money before. Damn. It feels damn good to be rich. Wait, we're rich, right?

"Yeah, I don't recognize that look," grandpa Shan said.

"Neither do I," grandpa Lin said.

"Bah, wait." I waved their banter away. "Do we have any money for a room?"

Grandpa Shan pulled out a little pouch from his little pouch and jingled it. It looked really silly despite how big a boner every physicist from back in my old world would've had from that. That was a horrible metaphor.

"Yeah, I'm lost here," I said.

The two shared another look. Grandpa Lin raised an eyebrow and grandpa Shan shook his head and reared it back as if offended by the gesture.

"He never asked," grandpa Shan said.

Grandpa Lin rolled his eyes. "Little Jin," he said, "our money works with four denominations: copper pieces, silver pieces, gold pieces, and purple jade tablets, and they are valued at a hundred of the lower serial denomination."

"Okay, so one hundred copper pieces is one silver, and one hundred silver pieces is one gold, then a hundred gold is one purple jade?"

"Yes," grandpa Lin confirmed.

"Understood." Clean, simple, easy to memorize. "So, we're rich?"

"Yes, little Jin, we're rich," grandpa Shan said, "but we're not as rich as those misers in the Seven Treasure school, because those bastards cheat."

"Language," grandpa Lin said.

"It's alright," I said, "I don't mind."

Grandpa Lin glared at grandpa Shan and just sighed.

We walked into the city and was met with a cacophony of the day to day haggling of a bustling merchant street. It sounded a lot like the bazaars from back home so I wasn't too lost on the scene. There were people peddling food, chopped meats and vegetables and fruits, then some peddling blacksmith goods like knives and pans, there were some swords and spears too. Then some further still, there were people calling out for others.

"Looking for an agility system, at least rank thirty!" cried one.

"We're a part of five, two power attack, one control, and agility, and one support, looking for a defense type!" cried another.

They were clearly looking for team mates, like forming a raiding party just before going after a boss. I tugged at grandpa Shan's sleeve and looked up from my wide hat. "Spirit masters form teams?"

"Correct little Jin," he said. "But these people are doing it wrong." Grandpa Shan frowned at them. "You can't just get some random people to come with you to hunt spirit beasts."

"Besides the danger involved, there's something else then?" Killing isn't all that difficult if you've got the strength, since all you really need is a good trap and you're all set. "And it involves the spirit, I guess?"

"Do you remember what your father said?" grandpa Lin asked.

"That I have to be the one to land the killing blow." So, a last hit sort of deal then. "Which means spirit rings go to the one who killed them." Grandpa Shan gestured to go on. "But is it from an honor sort of thing?"

Both nodded.

"That's incorrect," grandpa Lin said, "but that's the right line of questioning. You see little Jin, the last spirit to come in contact with the still living spirit beast will, in a way, mark it."

So exactly like a last hit thing with creeps in those online battle arenas. "The spirit ring can only be taken by the person to deal the last hit, yes?"

"Correct," grandpa Shan said, "but spirit beasts also sometimes drop something else." Rare drops, for sure. "These are called spirit bones, and even the weakest of them have always belong to at least a thousand-year spirit beast." To be honest, that sort of hunting down of ancient spirit beasts doesn't sound very sustainable. "And spirit bones always grant you another ability besides the one you already got from the ring."

"What's this about abilities?"

"You've got that look again," grandpa Lin said.

"Spirit rings grant abilities?" Okay, you know what, staying clueless sure has been a horrible experience so far. "No, they do. And spirit bones allow you to get more abilities than your limit for rings, since you can only get one every ten… then that should also mean that you can absorb these spirit bones whenever you want?"

"Indeed, little Jin," grandpa Lin said, "there are six types of spirit bones: head, torso, and one for each arm and leg. There is no real limit to absorbing spirit bones, except that you should only absorb those that fit your path of cultivation."

"And this path is exactly what those earlier spirit masters were shouting about, it would be the focus on which kinds of abilities they would specialize in," I said. Huh, kind of like football.

"Remind me to be more careful when I talk around you," said grandpa Lin.

"Don't bother, just avoid him if you can, and otherwise, just don't talk," said grandpa Shan.

We checked into an inn later that day and went to bed earlier than normal, it was so we'd be first in the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

We woke up early and made our way to the main forest area after a heavy breakfast. Thanks to grandpa Shan and Lin's spirit tools, packing wasn't a hassle and we had all the essentials already packed away, like sleeping cots and rations. We were also wearing sturdier robes than yesterday, and grandpa Shan also made me wear some simple leather bracers and shin guards.

I hiked myself up a tree's gnarled roots and leaves crunched beneath my foot when I stepped off. The smell of earth and decomposing underbrush filled the air, and the forest was silent like an undisturbed crypt. Behind me were my two grandpas, they stayed far enough just outside my Domain's range, and close enough to act in case some spirit beast stronger than me showed up.

"Little Jin," said grandpa Shan, "do you have any insights about the nature of your Crown?"

I expanded my Domain and felt for any signs of life, a flash of gold illuminating the gloomy forest. There were none. I closed it a moment later to avoid looking suspicious, as well as to not spook anything lurking about. "I'm not sure grandpa, but I think anything that can add more properties to my domain would be good."

We hypothesized my Crown should be some sort of mental spirit with the possibility of growing either towards support or control. This we figured was because my Domain had detrimental effects on others and beneficial effects for me. Support system spirit masters focused on providing buffs and the like to others, while control system spirit masters made life difficult for other people. And with my twin spirits, I had the possibility to grow into two systems, with power attack—those who focus on overwhelming force—for my Hammer as my sure second.

"You should clearly decide where you wish to go litle Jin," said grandpa Lin. "You cannot replace your spirit rings after all. Your first one determines where you'll go."

That was a lot of pressure to put on a four-year-old. "Then control should be a good foundation," I said. "My Crown's real power stems from its Domain," and the other effects it provides me, "and if I can make it terrifying to others, then this should give me good command over a battle." Unfortunately, coming into conflict was already a given—or at least, I'm already expecting it'd be.

Grandpa Shan stroked his beard. "Yes, I agree with this. Especially if you'll be the one to lead a team, a greater command of the tide of battle will be very beneficial to the forces under your command in the future."

We scoured the forest for spirit beasts, and made sure to only look for spirit beasts that had properties that allowed them to exhibit their control over an area. There were spiders and bats first to name a few, then queens from the insect kingdom—but those spirit beasts were rarely within the realm of a hundred years, and usually only started appearing at a cultivation of ten thousand, clearly too much for a first ring. Terrirtorial beasts like alphas in packs or groups also worked, since they had command as part of their being as well.

We went on for another few minutes before I opened my Domain, and got a response. "I found something," I said. Hunting spirit beasts was a lot like fishing exccept with more danger involved. It involved a lot of patience, and just as much violence and luck, and even meeting a suitable beast was already difficult, much less finding one with a cultivation matching your limit.

I kept my Domain opened and slowly inched my way towards the presence. My senses were still dull from the spirit power sense, and to my Domain, my Spirit Master cousins were no different in terms of sensation compared to my Titled Douluo grandpas, so that was a good direction to get started with.

I willed my Domain to start siphoning energy as fast as it could, and the presence stirred, moving away instead. "It's trying to run away," I said.

"Let it go then," grandpa Shan said. "A monarch cannot be bothered to run."

Fair enough, my Crown did look like a king's. "So, demeanor and not just function also works for a spirit ring's qualities?"

"Yes," grandpa Lin said. "Through the years, even the temperament of one's spirit beasts would also translate to the spirit master's power once absorbed."

We resumed our search, getting theses hits and misses every now and then. We'd seen wind baboons and some datura snakes, then some thunder spiders and swift swallows, and none were particularly good for me. After another few hours of searching, we found ourselves in front of a cave.

"What about here?" I said, expanding my Domain inwards to illuminate the dark landform.

"See if you can rouse something within to come attack you," grandpa Shan said.

"Is this about a cornered rat biting?" Provoking something backed against a—hypothetical—dead end was a sure way of making anyone desperate. "I don't think that would count as bravery."

"Yes, but king's need not always be brave," he said. "They just need to be able to make the best choice."

"And a last stand is also a form of pride," added grandpa Lin.

I shrugged and moved closer to the cave's mouth, making sure to coat myself with as much spirit power as I could. I wasn't stupid enough to kick a hornet's nest without any insurance. I expanded my Domain and had it eat as much as it could—and now that I think about it, gluttunous beasts would also work, given the nature of this devouring aura. I noticed a presence and willed more of the devouring to settle on it, but it neither stirred nor retreated.

"It's not moving," I said.

"Good," grandpa Shan said, "cross your fingers little Jin, we might have found your first spirit after all."

Grandpa Lin stayed back outside the cave, guarding the entrance from anything coming in or out, and grandpa Shan stepped ahead of me and led the way, bringing his overbearing hammer out. Anyone entering my Domain was became just as susceptible, and I could sense the oppressive energy of grandpa Shan's spirit being devoured. Yet I could only barely scratch the surface of it.

I willed my Domain to focus on devouring that presence ahead of me, and though the cultivation bar barely rose, there was a different sort of energy flowing into me. It was… chaotic, to say the least. Like there was no reason behind it.

Golden light illuminated the rough stone walls, exposing jagged surfaces and roots stretching down from the ceiling, and we passed a sort of mound before I saw a flesh-like cocoon sitting at the very back of the cave.

"That explains that strange energy I felt," I said. "This seems to be an insect spirit beast trying to undergo a change." Because I was damn sure no normal insect would grow a cocoon about a meter long and a half meter wide.

"Such a strange creature," grandpa said, stepping closer.

I also approached, and my foot crunched against something. Focusing on it, I noticed it was a large shell like thing with a lot of barbs—it was a leg. Memories of dead cockroach limbs surfaced from my past life and a shudder went up my spine. I stepped closer to the cocoon like structure and shone my light on it—and the outline of something vague with large jaws was revealed. Yeah, fuck the insect kingdom and everything it stood for. The outline pulsed with each hungry wave of my aura, the figure within stirring but otherwise helpless to resist.

"It's disgusting," I said, still absorbing the energy it had—there was no harm in getting a surplus for my cultivation, and grandpa Lin even encouraged me to keep cultivating despite having already reached the bottleneck of the tenth rank.

"Yes," grandpa said. He leaned down to get a closer look and poked the fleshy sack. "The skin doesn't seem to be poisonous, and this carcass here seems to have dried up long ago." He picked up a shard of the chitinous remains. "This used to be a spider."

"Then that must mean this is some sort of parasite against spiders," I said. Since spiders don't spin no fucking cocoons, but then this is a place where the natural laws go to weep so I could be wrong. But the size of those jaws reminded me of an ant's, and given what I'd seen so far, this was most likely some spider-wasp from hell sort of creature.

"This is perfect for your Domain, little Jin." He turned to me. "And these sorts of creatures prey on the cultivation of others, and from the looks of it, this was a Man-faced Demon Spider with cultivation just before the thousand years mark."

"Yes, but that would mean I'd have to crush it." Just imagining the outcome…

"But it's a good spirit that's defenseless right now, is also perfect for you." He wasn't smiling.

"I understand," I said. "But… the goo and all those strange fluids… would leak out."

He brought out a large water skin and a change of clothes. "You'll thank me for this later."

I sighed and brought out my Hammer, the black light mixing with the gold. "This better be worth it," I said, and concentrated spirit power into my Hammer—its weight increasing as more and more was poured in. The Clear Sky Hammer's true worth was in its ability to unleash force, and this weight for spirit power quality was one of its most basic offensive attributes. I brought up my Hammer and smashed it down on the pupa's head—and a burst of bodily fluids washed over me, burning my skin where it touched.

I expanded my Domain and devoured the energy in those fluids, and the burning came from both outside and within. Some parts of my robe started dissolving. "I think the pupa is poisonous!" I said.

"You'll be fine little Jin," grandpa said. "Eat as much of my spirit power as you need later.

As long as it didn't enter my bloodstream, I was confident I could resist the pain with some help. I smashed down my Hammer again, this time at the exposed head, and another splash of fluids hit me—but just then, a ring of ethereal yellow appeared. The burning didn't leave, but with my Domain eating at the spirit power infused into it, the burning was lessening with each passing second.

"Now what?" I said.

"Will your spirit to touch the ring," grandpa said, "but make sure not to touch it with your hammer."

I took off my Crown and concentrated spirit power into it and brought it close to the spirit ring—which approached of its own accord. When it made contact—something hot burst into my fingertips and spread through my arm and into my torso. This felt a lot like when grandpa Lin awakened me. I retracted my Domain and used it to devour the foreign energy in me, and opened my Core as well, filtering all that heat.

That same chaotic energy I'd been devouring earlier had no seeming direction, so I spun my power around it, containing it and funnelling it into my core. I had no idea what I was doing, but my my spirit power bar refused to go any lower than eighty percent no matter how much I expended so I must've been doing something right.

I stayed like that for who knows how long, and the burning on my skin had long subsided, already devoured of any energy left behind. Through my core, the hot energy joined my circulation and from my right and left hands the presences became more substantial—like they were surer of being there.

When I opened my eyes, I saw grandpa Shan and Lin watching over me. Grandpa Lin heaved a sigh of relief, while grandpa Shan broke out with a great wide grin. Then grandpa Lin cuffed him again, but grandpa Shan was unperturbed.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone cultivate lying prone on the ground," grandpa Lin said with exasperation.

I pushed myself up from the ground—then suddenly remembered what it all was covered in before all this. I stood up with a start and felt the same vertigo hit me, and found grandpa Shan and Lin to look different from before this little episode. "Why didn't you move me away from all that insect goo?!" I asked, hysterical and shuddering all over, I was half naked and covered in partially dissolved clothes, and I could still feel some wet parts here and there.

Grandpa Shan tossed me the water skin he promised earlier and I stripped down faster than I could complain a second time, washing myself of the filth I was covered in. I pushed back the vertigo through sheer force of will and finished cleaning myself, and grandpa Shan tossed me another set of robes.

"That was absolutely disgusting," I said, remembering the taste of insect pupa saturated dirt. "I want to vomit." I scratched at my tongue, trying to wipe away the terrible memories. All this while, the two old people were just chuckling to themselves, though grandpa Lin was glaring at grandpa Shan every now and then. "What are you looking at?" I pat myself down and summoned my Crown to check if there was anything strange and found none, exactly like before.

"Congratulations on getting your first ring," grandpa Shan said. "My gamble was worth the risk!" He laughed out loud, the chuckles shaking some dirt off of the cave ceiling.

Grandpa Lin cuffed him again. "Are you sure you're alright little Jin?" He fussed over me and checked me all over, and I felt his probes of spirit power enter me and cycle through my body before returning to him.

"I'm alright grandpa Lin." I shot grandpa Shan a frown. "And what's this about a gamble?" From the corner of my eye, one of the nine boxes, the one at the very left now had an image imposed on it—split into two. It seems I did get my first spirit ability.

Grandpa Shan walked over to me, lips stretched from ear to ear, he then pointed at my spirit ring. "Did you notice the hint of purple on it?"

"Now that you mention it." I willed the ring closer to me eyes and saw the very slight hint of the other hue. "Okay, so why is that important?"

Grandpa Lin grunted. "The known limit for absorbing spirit rings is not only known from distinct cultivation levels, like from a ten, hundred, or thousand year cultivation. Values in between are also important, and Spirit Hall had long published that four hundred years was the average limit for the first ring."

I nodded. "And clearly, this ring of mine is closer to a thousand." I turned to grandpa Shan. "And what then if I weren't able to absorb it?"

"You could have died if I didn't do anything," he said, matter-of-factly. "But I wouldn't let something like that happen to my cute little grandson, of course I had some way of forcibly stopping you from absorbing it."

It hurt a little, to have been subjected to a risk I wasn't aware of, but the gain was generous enough. "Next time, please tell me if you're planning something like that, alright?"

"The thought only occurred to me after we saw this pupa," grandpa Shan said, poking the shell it left behind with his foot. "And since you didn't complain about it stealing the cultivation of a thousand year Man-faced Demon Spider, then I figured you'd do well."

"The goo burned my skin."

Grandpa Lin cuffed him again.

"But you just set an unprecedented record in the continent," he said.

Grandpa Lin grumbled. "He did do _some_ good."

"Tell us then, little Jin, what is your new spirit ability?" grandpa Shan urged.

I concentrated on that first box, and the ring floating around me shone with yellow light. The gold mist like glow shone out of me, but it became focused like a beam instead of a general spread and brought all its glory to settle on grandpa Shan, and the cultivation bar started filling up towards thirteen little by little.

What's peculiar however, was that only half of the square lit up.

"From what I could tell, this Devour ability allows me to increase the absorption rate of my Domain and allows me to direct the entirety of its influence to only one target."

"I see," grandpa Shan said, "so this is what it feels like to have my spirit power eaten by you, little Jin."

I stopped Devouring grandpa Shan's spirit power. "I'm also at the twelfth rank right now, and should only need a bit to tackle thirteen."

I met their eyes and lowered my voice before saying, "I also seem to have another ability."

I summoned my Hammer, and the two tilted their heads at the all black spirit. The ring of yellow shone again, and this time, the bottom portion of the square lit up. Black light issued from the Hammer as a sinister power concentrated at the face I held away from me. I swung the Hammer towards the wall, and a sharp bolt of black light surged outward and pierced into the stone.

"This is called the Iron Wasp Bullet," I said.

#

We rushed our way back to the Clear Sky sect after we'd gotten what we came for and the two geezers pulled no stops on the return trip back. Our trip to here took all of six hours, but this time we only took four. I knew they still weren't going all out, but to not even look like they were pushing themselves.

We didn't bother with the front gate and instead jumped directly into the courtyard, kicking up a fuss with some of the practicing students and uncle Zhang, and headed straight for the inner hall.

"Are you alright?" asked grandpa Bai, rushing us when we've just entered, and his spirit power enveloping us and rousing our own.

"Were you attacked," asked grandpa Huang. His spirit power was already roiling, but the excited smiles on grandpas Shan and Lin disarmed the two other elders' panic. "Why do you both have stupid looks," he said with a glare.

They presented me like a ham on a silver platter, grandpa Shan holding me up by the armpits while grandpa Lin nudged me to do the thing. I humored them and willed both Hammer and Crown into being, together with my single ring.

"He was able to absorb a nine-hundred-year Iron Spider-Wasp ring," said grandpa Shan.

And grandpas Bai and Huang had mixed expressions, that could clearly be interpreted as a 'huh.'

"And, watch this," grandpa Lin added, and nudged me again.

I willed my Crown to execute the first ability, and directed Devour at grandpa Bai.

"It's gotten much stronger," he said, as if it were expected.

"Man, you elders are all monsters," I said with a pout.

"We're all Titled Douluo here, little Jin, of course we'd be monsters," said grandpa Huang with a grimace.

"Old Huang, think fast," said grandpa Shan, and directed me at him.

My ring shone again, this time connecting with my Hammer and I shot a bolt of black light at the only bald grandpa in the room.

The bolt surged after him and dispelled into his just now raised hand, dissipating into thin air. I whimpered at grandpa Shan, pointing my little black Hammer at grandpa Huang.

"What?!" grandpa Huang said.

"We don't understand either," grandpa Shan said. "But little Jin's spirit ring seems to be connected to both his spirits."

Just then, father walked into the inner hall together with mother. "Little Jin, are you alright?" he said, then his eyes settled on each of the gathered elders and the single spirit ring still floating around us.

"I'm alright father," I said. I was still being held by my armpits.

Grandpa Lin explained the situation and the good fortune we'd encountered with getting this gentle yet formidable spirit ring.

"However, we are completely lost on where to develop little Jin towards," grandpa Shan said, "the best course of action would of course be to seek help with understanding the peculiarities of his condition. But we know of no one with that knowledge whom we can trust personally."

"But perhaps, we may have a lead," grandpa Lin said. He brought out a small booklet and showed it to the rest of the elders. "We elders have been using the work of this Yu Xiaogang to direct the cultivation of our disciples."

"Yes, the author of the Ten Core Spirit Concepts," father added.

"And we believe he may have some ideas at least with how best to direct little Jin," grandpa Lin said.

"And what do you think, little Jin?" father asked me.

"I think I'll be fine on my own," I said. Given what grandpas Lin and Shan had already told me, and the fact that these ten core spirit concepts have been guiding the sect's development for quite some time now, then I'd say there was no need to directly involve someone outside the clan. "We are not sure if this person is to be trusted, and neither are we sure if this person has ties to Spirit Hall either."

"Little Jin, we all agree you are a genius, but even hubris should have its limits," said grandpa Huang.

"But he's also right," said grandpa Shan. "Spirit Hall's influence runs deep."

"And yet we know from those auxilliary halls in Heaven Dou's capital that Spirit Hall has not published this thesis either," said grandpa Lin.

"But then if it were correct, wouldn't they wish to keep such knowledge for themselves?" said father.

"However, even a little clue is still better than none," said grandpa Bai. "And I do not approve of making little Jin take unnecessary risks like this, we cannot rely on good fortune all the time."

"I can agree with grandpa Bai on that," I said. "Do we know of where this Yu Xiaogang is?" After that question, I heard grandpas Lin and Shan sniggering. "Eh?"

"Please don't mind us," said grandpa Shan, "just some old grandpas finding amusement in our little king here."

Grandpa Bai started sniggering too, "It fits well, with his domineering attitude as well."

"They're not wrong little Jin," said father, he was also smiling a tad bit, "our little king doesn't cower even when faced with these old powers and grandpas."

"You should have seen him when he was to kill the pupa," granda Shan blurt out, "he was completely against doing it in because all the fluids from it would splash him."

Mother paled at what had happened.

"And yes mother," I said, "it was exactly as disgusting as I figured it would be. The fluids even dissolved part of my clothes." I shuddered. "I even tasted some of it when it splashed."

We all agreed to first send some people out to try and track Yu Xiaogang, while I worked on cultivating and learning a bit more of our clan and life in general. The latter I could more or less fill in the gaps with using my past life, but the finer points like what money was like or how people interacted in general was one of the things I was lacking in. And with a world like this where honor and grudges could overturn the lives of an entire clan, well, it'd pay to understand the intricacies.

I sat at the top of a boulder warmed by sunlight with my Domain expanded in full. Getting my first ring expanded my range from ten meters in diameter to fifteen, and when using Devour, even allows it to reach as far as twenty, and with the parasitic property of the Iron Spider-Wasp, I now need to keep my absorption in check unless I want to end up killing the plants around me. Which is pretty cool in retrospect but not very nice in the long run.

Breathing in the energy of the universe, the rate at which power filtered in was a lot more noticeable now, and Pranus Core seems to have expanded a small bit as well from the rise in ranks. It had already been a week since we got back from Star Dou Forest, and I was already tackling the fourteenth rank. However, due to my still developing body, learning martial arts and doing strength training was out of the picture.

The scene playing out, with the grasses swaying to the gentle wind and the clouds moving, it was a view I'd come to love after coming to this world.

I passed the time like that until noon, just relaxing under the sun and headed back home for lunch. I had a simple meal and then went with grandpa Lin to learn a bit of writing and reading. Thanks to easily memorizing, lessons don't last too long and I get the rest of the day off to play or cultivate or whatever. But, I usually watch my cousins train.

They would continuously swing their hammers in a way that would weave in and out, tracing paths of hard and soft forces. Hard when they'd exert power to move, and soft when they'd redirect. It reminded me of the way I'd play in the water as a kid, making invisible currents under the pool and continuously moving my hands in ways that didn't feel… wrong.

Day after day, there would still be no news of Yu Xiaogang, and day after day I'd come to watch my cousins train. To not get in the way of my cultivation, I'd sit on the rooftops and open my Domain just enough to extend upwards by a bit but not let it reach downwards. My Domain was good for me, but it was bad for everyone else.

Time was the only thing I had to spend, so I figured I'd spend it well with learning as much as I could. There were limits to how much I could achieve on my own even with the memories of my past life.


	4. Chapter 4

I passed the days by watching my cousins train, and sometimes practicing with them. Uncle Zhang would also instruct me every now and then correcting my form or showing me the right ways to breath between steps, but would never let me do the actual swings at full power.

"Remember little Jin," uncle Zhang said, "the true might of our Hammer can only be brought out with the full body's effort." He held his spirit in one hand and stepped forward while raising it up. "Now do you see where the motion starts?"

His legs were set apart and poised as if to jump from a run, and his torso was facing to one way with the other hand coiled as a counter-weight.

"You form a stable base with your legs then twist your hips to generate force," I said.

Uncle Zhang relaxed his body into a normal position, then pointed at Tang Hui, one of my older cousins. "Little Hui," he said, "from where do we generate force?"

Cousin Hui stood up and bowed before speaking. "All power begins from the calves," he said, and sat back down.

"The calves?" I said. That was an unconventional choice for a point of origin. "But that wouldn't be suitable for maneuvering or defending. Having such a high origin would surely let you bring more out, but then you'd be open to a counter if you miss."

Uncle Zhang smirked. "Who would dare oppose our Clear Sky Hammer?" he said.

"That's a very simple way of looking at things," I said.

Uncle Zhang glowed black and he swung out with his hammer, creating a massive wind pressure that blew my bangs away from my face. "And what is skill when confronted with unstoppable force?"

I frowned. "Fine, but what happens when you miss?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "And here I thought our little genius would have already figured it out." He shook his head and shrugged, but the clueless looks my other cousins had told me this was something they haven't been taught yet either.

"I have no idea what you mean, uncle." I gestured at my Hammer. "All I know is it gets heavier the more spirit power I pour into it."

He smiled at that and gestured me to go on.

I looked at him funny. "How does a heavier hammer help with not missing a target?"

This time was his turn to tilt his head at me. "You've never tried swinging your hammer before?"

"The last time I did I ended up taking a bath in poisonous digestive juices."

A beat—before someone said ew from the back.

Uncle Zhang closed his mouth and said, "You're serious."

"That and I've only ever swung it at a defenseless target," I said.

"You used your hammer to kill your first ring?" he said, taken aback.

"It's a hammer, of course I'd use it to kill my first ring." I looked around and saw my cousins give me strange looks. "Oh, come on, it's a spirit for fighting."

"My dad said we use blades so it's kinder on the spirit beasts," said Tang Ye, he was older than me by three years but was still only at the twelfth rank.

"Didn't uncle Xiao give you a knife?" uncle Zhang asked.

"We're getting side tracked here," I said with a flat tone. "Back to the hammer." I poured spirit power into it and filled it to as heavy as I can swing. "There, that's as much as I can take."

"Give it a big swing," uncle said.

I did—then he threw a big clump of flour at me.

The black glow of my spirit bled as it traced a path in the air, and the flour went crazy wherever my Hammer passed. But even weirder was it followed close to the head instead of getting thrown about by the wake.

"What just happened?" I said, wiping the flour off my face.

"Watch and learn," he said. He threw another clump of flour above him then swung down his Hammer, and the same strange behavior occurred. The flour stuck close to the head of his spirit as it drew an arc in the air. On the down swing, he twisted his elbow and deviated the path of his Hammer into an upswing, using his shoulder as a pivot and brought it up then again into the same upward reaching stance.

He did it again and again, doing upwards of five swings as the black glow kept sticking closer and closer to his body, and the lines of flour kept going around him even after his spirit had long left the space. Uncle Zhang kept the cycle going, swinging in a frantic but flowing manner as his spirit seemed to become more and more blurred by the black glow surrounding him.

Then, I saw it. The flour was kept aloft in all his swinging, never leaving the trails of black light he left behind even when the wind pressure surrounding him was enough to make my robes billow.

"The black light of the Clear Sky Hammer has an attractive property," I said, not entirely sure if I could believe in it even if all the evidence said yes. The flour was right there, suspended in the air when everything told me they should have been blown away from the very first swing.

Uncle Zhang stopped his swinging and brought his Hammer to a stop by bleeding off the momentum with some empty swings. "Very good, little Jin." He then looked over me. "Did everyone else get that?"

A resounding, "Yes" echoed behind me.

The following day, I made my way early to my favorite spot with a brand-new plaything. Learning of the Clear Sky Hammer's unique aura gave me some ideas I wanted to try out. I reached my little bed of flowers and brought out both spirits, then expanded my Domain upwards so I didn't kill the plant life.

My single ring flashed yellow, and I shot a black bolt from my Hammer just above the flowers. I then dropped to my knees and leveled my eyes to their heights. Where the black bolt passed, the grasses and petals would sway towards before being pushed back by its wake of power. It seemed the attractive property also worked with my first ability.

Curiosity sated, I kept shooting bolt after bolt, trying to get a feel for my spirit ability and recovering using my Domain whenever my spirit power would fall lower than seventy percent.

Not to let Devour lag, I'd use it on the surrounding grasses like a search light, pushing Devour's absorption and my recovery speed to the limit every day. One thing I'd noticed though was that the clumps of blue green grasses were resilient enough that I didn't need to rotate my recovery spots every session, and staying to Devour for up to three times was safe enough to not kill any of them.

Needless to say, it was amazing—this Blue Silver Grass.

Like that, six months would pass in peace and I'd reach the fourteenth rank before we finally received word of Yu Xiaogang.

#

A quick session was held in the inner hall one fine morning, with the four elders present at the concoction of the plan together with me and my father. I was present in the debriefing as the person most concerned, and to also hear of the circumstances around the man we'd supposedly trust with a secret very close to the sect's heart—namely, me.

I was seated to the side of the elders with my father at the head.

"Greetings to the elders and sect master," said uncle Tang Ho. He was a fifty-fourth rank Spirit Ancestor and one of the few clansmen we employed as scouts. "I was able to find where Yu Xiaogang is currently residing after months of search, and Tang Ho is remorseful for taking so long."

"It's alright, brother Ho," said father. "We are deeply grateful for your services." He nodded in the bowing man's direction.

Tang Ho raised his head and spoke, "The person in question is currently residing as a guest lecturer in Nuoding city's Primary Spirit Academy under the favor of principal Ba Zhutian. He is also nurturing a student who goes by the name of Tang San and is currently a seventeenth rank control system Spirit Master. And from what I learned, he also had full innate spirit power on his awakening Blue Silver Grass as a spirit."

I was surprised, at the news. Full innate spirit power was already a rare event, but with Blue Silver Grass was something new.

"Also, there was recent news of one of Yu Xiaogang's Ten Core Spirit Concepts being proven by allowing Tang San's plant system spirit to accept a ring from the beast system. However, it is only now being circulated by the Nuoding city's Primary Spirit Academy as its main publisher."

After his report, uncle Ho then excused himself as the room fell into a discussion.

"Nuoding is in the middle of nowhere," said uncle Huang. "But a guest is still a guest and merits some suspicion of him having Spirit Hall's favor."

"I agree," said grandpa Lin, "though this guest status is likely to be less prestigious than an actual lecturer's, but to think they're only publishing this now? Why, this Xiaogang's work was only by chance procured for us by Tang Hao before things went awry."

Grandpa Bai shot grandpa Lin with a sour look, and father's stoic face said way more than necessary. There came a tremble, and my Domain expanded within me in response to that vast tremor—it was like the calm before a storm.

"My brother did us a great service," father said. "Xiaogang's Ten Core Spirit Concepts had allowed our third generation to flourish like never before, so I would appreciate if no one would shame his name." Grandpas Lin and Shan bowed without a fuss, but grandpa Bai and Huang did so a beat later. "Am I clear?"

"Understood, sect leader," the four elders said.

Grandpa Shan cleared his throat. "Now then, him taking on a disciple with a trash spirit sounds like a joke, but to hear this child is already at the seventeenth rank, then Yu Xiaogang is truly a scholar among scholars!"

To think it was possible to face this tenacious grass a spirit… well, I'd be pretty darn surprised if there wasn't such a thing as plant type spirit beasts hailing from it, but what a scary thought that was.

"I have increasing doubts on whether he is of Spirit Hall now," said grandpa Bai. "If he were, he wouldn't be in the middle of nowhere with a disciple bearing Blue Silver Grass."

I raised my hand.

"Yes, our little king?" said grandpa Shan.

"I find myself feeling wary of this Tang San," I said. The room fell into a deep silence. From what I learned from myself, innate spirit power could be faked, but I wouldn't have been able to do so on my own without my Crown.

"The surname Tang is quite widespread, little king," said grandpa Bai. "I wouldn't be surprised if these are some of those who wished to ride with our clan's fame."

"Yes," I said, "but remember that I too had two spirits, though merged as one." That and I had the ability to cultivate, so putting two and two together, that Tang San sounded like a very suspicious person.

"Or it could all be just some ruse," said grandpa Huang.

"I believe little Jin," said father—there was a hint of a twinkle in his eyes. "Full innate spirit power is a very rare occurrence, and to have Blue Silver Grass carry this, it seems too much of a coincidence."

"But that's beside the point," I said. "What matters here is that Yu Xiaogang was able to nurture someone with such a commonplace spirit and with the news of his awakening being connected to uncle Ho's report, this most likely means this Tang San must still be at a young age and definitely not much older than six."

"I can agree with this line of thinking," said grandpa Lin.

Grandpa Shan nodded as well.

"Do we have any other arguments?" No hands were raised. "All in favor of having Yu Xiaogang meet little Jin?" said father, he raised his hand and looked at the elders.

It was a unanimous decision which I too agreed with.

"Then we'll travel to Nuoding city and see whether this Yu Xiaogang is worthy of our trust," I said.

"Indeed, little Jin," said grandpa Shan. "But we mustn't be too hasty."

Grandpa Lin said, "Nuoding city is much farther than Star Dou Forest, and it would take at least three weeks' of journeying by cart, and no less than a week of hard running if we go on foot. Not to mention the exhaustion that'd come with it."

And that was by Titled Douluo standards.

"Also, such a faraway journey would be too risky to make with our infamy, and the perils of the road might force us one way or another to reveal our identities," said father. "We must also remember that we are still in hiding, and that Spirit Hall's reach is far and wide."

"If only we still had the Speed clan with us," said grandpa Bai, shaking his head.

Father turned to me, but his eyes had a dark shine in them. "Perhaps we can pester your aunt Yuehua for a favor," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "So," I said, "it's that time of the year again, eh?"

v

Another week passed, and I was only a quarter of the way to the fifteenth rank when we received word aunt Yuehua was coming home.

My… past interactions with my father's sister was less than ideal, and though she'd praise my ability to read moods and talk and write above what she'd expect of someone my age, she still gives my grief at my crass mannerisms and the supposed gap between my polite and normal faces.

I was practicing with Uncle Zhang and the rest when the storm hit.

"What, no greetings for your dear aunt?" said aunt Yuehua.

I dispelled my Hammer and Crown, and faced her with the most angelic smile I had. "Tang Jin greets esteemed aunt Tang Yuehua," I said, and bowed.

She walked over to me in her billowing silk robes of light blue. Her jet-black hair was done up in a tight bun, and a light foundation brightened her already pinkish skin, giving it a natural glow just right for day wear. Her footsteps were not wide but just right to make her skirt glide over the floor, and her hips swayed with each graceful step. Had I not known she was my aunt, I'd have fallen for her just from that alone. "Precocious brat," she said with the sweetest smile.

And just like that, the magic was gone.

"Isn't it enough I know how to act already?" I said, dropping my smile and crinkling my nose. "And it's not as if you can introduce me to the nobles in your Moon Palace." I shrugged. Aunt Yuehua ran a finishing school for royalty and nobility in Heaven Dou's capital city, and just for kicks, dad sent me over for a month before to get a feel for the current climate of the ruling class.

She put her hands to her hips and bent a bit over to meet my eyes. "I come back after a year and this is the greeting I get," she said. "Dearest me, my big brother sure loves to spoil you."

I did my biggest grin and puffed out my chest. "I'm mature for my age," I said, "I'm amazing like that."

She pinched my cheek, but not enough to sting. "You thank the heavens you're adorable," she said as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"I missed you aunt Yuehua," I said, hugging her back. Mother and father were both not very affectionate even when I was still a baby, but that's alright. Everyone has their own way of doing things. And getting to hug a really pretty lady—even if she was my aunt—was always a welcome sensation.

"I missed you too little Jin," she said, giving me one more squeeze before letting go. "Have you been good?"

"Even if I haven't, you wouldn't find out," I said with a nod.

She sighed then said, "At least you remember your lessons."

A calming feeling washed over me and I saw the faint traces of a light blue sparkling in the air. In response, I expanded my Domain to just above my skin, blocking the spirit power carrying the subtle suggestion. "And yes, I've been sure to keep practicing with using my Domain."

She ruffled my hair and said, "Very good, that's my nephew."

Like me, aunt Yuehua had a domain as well thanks to her variant spirit: The Crystal-Clear Bell, where mine eats spirit power, hers soothes emotions.

We then walked together so she could greet father and the elders, since her things were already being taken care of. We were then directed by one of the stewards to the dining hall for a small meal for her and a snack for me, there we were greeted by father and the others.

"Tang Yuehua greets sect master and the elders," she said with a bow.

"Please little sister," father said, "no need for any formalities here, we're all family."

He then directed her to a seat at the table and I sat next to her.

"It's good to see little Jin growing up well," she said, taking her seat.

We ate stir-fried vegetables seasoned with the shrimp paste I helped create, and a pout-au-feu like dish made with some sweet and spicy herbs—it was a small favor to bring in some of my past life's cuisines, and everyone seemed to enjoy whatever I came up with next. Food always tasted better when enjoyed with others. Maybe I'll do pancakes next, though I still need to get some maple syrup or some other sweet sauce for that.

Some small talk here and there, some banter every now and then and updates on the general happenings with the empire. The Seven Treasure school seems to have tightened their hold on the Heaven Dou empire with their head becoming the one of the princes' tutors, the Blue Lightning school was still hailing themselves as the strongest sect in the land and really raking in the disciples, then there was Spirit Hall who had always been recruiting talented individuals left and right. There wasn't much to read between the lines, though that lingering feeling of something going on in the background was always there. Like one of the more famous literary characters of my old world said, 'constant vigilance' was the only true way to go.

Once things settled, father opened-up another topic.

"Sister," he said, "we would like to ask you of something."

"Speak first and I'll decide later," she said. It was a breach of etiquette on her part, but no one really cared since we were all family here—that and because she would be the wariest of any risks given her personal strength.

"It's a matter concerning me, aunt Yuehua," I said. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. I then summoned my Crown, the spirit she'd known already known about. Her eyes focused on it for a bit before coming back to meet mine. Then I brought my right hand in front of me and summoned my Hammer.

"Twin spirits?!" she said. "Little Jin has twin spirits?!" It was refreshing to see her so surprised, and the way her red lips curled was a sight to behold.

"Not exactly," I said. Her gaze then trailed to the single ring floating above my head.

"You also already have your first ring!" she pulled me into another hug and the soft sensation was really really really confusing.

"I'm a fourteenth rank Spirit Master now, aunt Yuehua." She brightened up with a smile. "But I don't have twin spirits, rather, they seem to be merged."

She tilted her head and it was—for lack of a more delicate term, intoxicating. God. I am so not getting the hots for my aunt. I punched my metaphorical self and refocused on the subject. We then launched into a quick explanation for the hypothesis grandpas Lin and Shan came up with me and the whole discussion about Yu Xiaogang and then having uncle Ho look for him for like six months and all that, and by the end of it tackled the main question.

"So, there you have it," I said, "I think meeting Yu Xiaogang would be very beneficial with learning more about my spirit, he might not necessarily know, but for someone to concoct those theories must have some good insights on my condition." That or maybe a really large bag of weed.

She nodded once, then said, "If that's all, then I can lend you some guards from my Moon Palace to escort you there, though I'd feel safer if at least one elder would accompany little Jin."

"Say no more," said grandpa Shan.

Aunt Yuehua nodded again. "Then that's settled," she said. "You can both come with me when I head back, I'll only be staying for two months this time since the season for marriages and betrothals will be coming again soon."

#

Two months wasn't such a long time when you've got something to do, and for me, it was always fun to watch my cultivation bar grow. Sometimes I'd ask grandpa Shan to bring me down to practice Devour on some unwitting woodland creatures he consented to it since I never killed, but when aunt Yuehua found out, she was rather peeved at the idea, and instead told me to practice it on my cousins instead.

"I'd sooner our next generation learn how to deal with Domain based attacks than let my nephew perform any more cruelties to innocent creatures," she explained to uncle Zhang, and after the first session, the older generations also asked for a turn. All in all, it was a valuable experience for all of us. I got to train my Domain and eat spirit power to help with my cultivation, and they learned how to deal with someone who can attack them without having to do so.

"I felt a little stupid for not doing this earlier," I told aunt Yuehua that same day.

"Wisdom is something you're allowed to not have enough of at this age," she said. Though I felt a small stab of pain at the unintended attack to my older self.

Today, I was facing off with my slightly older cousins, the ones I attended the awakening ceremony with. We were allowed to do a light spar, me with my Crown and Hammer against both Daiyu and Bai at the same time. The rules allowed me only my Crown's first ability, since my ranged Hammer attack was quite a deal breaker at this level.

"Ready," uncle Zhang said. We three kids readied our Hammers, Daiyu with her bloody red, Bai with his mustard, and me with pure black. "Go!"

At the start, my yellow ring immediately glowed and went after Bai. With my range at a maximum of twenty-five meters, no one could escape me in the courtyard. Daiyu and Bai both rushed towards me, their rings also glowing. Daiyu's first ability was an enhanced attack, while Bai's reversed the pulling effect of the Hammer's aura. They were at rank's eleven and ten respectively, with Bai acquiring his first ring just a week ago.

I concentrated spirit power into my Hammer and swing it to meet Daiyu's—but at the last minute I dispelled it and side stepped and kicked out for her hip. She was already mid-swing when I dodged, and couldn't redirect her strike in time, so she was pushed off balance into Bai.

I brought my Hammer out to attack but Bai threw his, already glowing a deep black and I was pushed away by the force of it, stopping a solid meter away when the spirit power in it dispelled. They then used the time to recover from the first exchange.

I pushed Devour to eat more and more, and Bai was already starting to show signs of wear. The patches of sweat were a dead give-away as well as the slight catch when breathed. The extra boost to perception helped a lot with these little spars, and it was an advantage that would only get better the stronger I got.

Daiyu charged forward again, this time with Bai right behind her. It was a tactic the older students had come up with. My Domain devoured whatever was caught in its light, and physically blocking also impeded my absorption of a target's spirit power—when using Devour. It was a lot like shining a flashlight towards a direction versus the omni-directional absorption of my original Domain.

Since they wanted to do things this way, I wouldn't hold back. I dispelled my Hammer and brought both hands up into a boxing stance. I then pushed all my effort into Devour and directed all I could to Daiyu.

When she neared, she swung down again—then I stepped-in. She stepped back to get her spirit to hit me but another quick side-step caused her to hit air, I then jabbed at her stomach then brought my Hammer out at the same time, ramming her with the head. Daiyu was pushed back but then Bai's hammer came hurtling from the right and I had to block with my left forearm, it threw me off my feet towards the right.

I recovered with a quick ukemi and landed at a crouch, and Bai was on my case right after.

I then redirected Devour onto him and right when he got closer I covered myself with as much spirit power as I could and broke into pair of windmills, kicking my legs out and around me. He was caught off guard by the move and my kick clipped his feet, then I brought myself up into a backspin then handspringed into a fighting stance in one quick move. All these weeks of fighting pushed me to up my game, and with the help of spirit power—teaching myself how to breakdance got easier thanks to not having to mind getting injured. The boxing was a lot harder to relearn since figuring out how to time it with my Hammer and not end up overextending my joints was more an exercise in futility, instead, jabbing was all I had to my name. Actually using my body would have to wait until I built up enough bulk.

That last hit brought Bai out for the count but Daiyu kept going, she was again charging at me in a straight line, Hammer up and ready. It was also in these last few weeks that I learned something just plain disappointing. Her stance was perfect form from the Clear Sky school's point of view, but it was just so open to counter-attacks.

I stepped into her swing again—and really, almost everyone I've faced and has ever watched me fight already expected this, and still their best follow-ups were to either step back or push me away with their elbows. She pushed me back with her elbow this time, and I blocked hers with an elbow of my own and my other hand shot up for her wrist—and from there it was quick work to get behind her. With the two of us back to back, I then jumped back and fell like a log.

We landed with a thud then I summoned my Hammer and filled it with as much spirit power as I could and settled it on my chest. Meanwhile, Daiyu struggled to get me off her but eventually gave up after Devour did its number.

Basically, the concept of martial arts didn't seem to exist here.

"Winner," uncle Zhang said, "little Jin."

I stood myself up and helped Daiyu as well, and she was pouting like all hell. I then turned to uncle, "I swear, I keep showing you all the ways to break our Clear Sky school's stance."

Uncle Zhang scratched his chin, before saying, "Little Jin, the way you've been winning against your cousins is impressive, but this is nowhere near how Spirit Masters actually fight."

"Fine," I said, "just wait for me to reach the higher ranks." I was currently at the fifteenth rank, and most of that progress was thanks to all the fighting.

"Little Jin," aunt Yuehua called out, "come and have lunch with auntie." She stuck her head out of the dining hall. "And get changed before you come in, I'm not letting you eat with that disheveled appearance."

I went back to my room and quickly changed out of my clothes and combed my hair then went back for the food. Consuming spirit power—even if I replenished it with Devour—still made me hungry, and that little exercise just now was enough to drive me down to lower than half. When I entered the hall, auntie was already there with a bowl of light soup and some roasted chicken.

"We'll be leaving for Heaven Dou capital soon," she said.


	5. Chapter 5

Grandpa Shan, auntie and I were in her carriage and were on our way to the Heaven Dou Empire capital. We left yesterday from the foot of the mountain where aunt Yuehua's guards were waiting for her, and as someone with deep ties to the nobility of the capital, it was in a lot of people's best interests to keep her safe—the sect more so. Auntie had eight people in her entourage, four Spirit Grandmasters, two Spirit Elders, and another two Spirit Kings. The four grandmasters were employed by the various spirit master families she associates with, while the other four were from the Clear Sky's outer sect—the ones who didn't inherit the Clear Sky Hammer.

"Little Jin," said aunt Yuehua, "please sit down."

I settled back into the too soft cushion and felt every freakin' bump on the goddamn road. It was unsettling to ride something so… rickety, when I could run way faster and more comfortable than this. "I'm not very fond of carriages," I said.

"And I suppose grandpa Shan carried you all the way to Star Dou Forest when you went?"

Grandpa Shan met my eyes. "It was the most efficient way to do so," I said.

"But not everyone can run a span of eight hundred Li in a few hours," she said.

I leaned in close to her, she smelled of jasmines and warm Sunday mornings, then whispered, " _And not everyone has a Titled Douluo for a father_." I stepped back and laughed in my haughtiest spoiled brat impression.

Still though, I had a few ideas on how to improve our ride. Something like a suspension system or some inflatable wheels, but the difficulty there lied in however the hell I'd pass off my knowledge without arousing suspicion, as well as manufacturing the goods. I knew metalworking existed here from the various fixtures that decorated our home and this carriage, but the techniques for making the materials I'd need I'd have to figure out somehow.

An extra big bump threw me up off my seat, and auntie and grandpa laughed. I sighed and sat back down, straightening out my robes. Judging from that, this carriage probably has a solid axle, and I bet I'd make a fortune just trying to recreate the shit I can remember from my past life. Things like a leaf spring suspension, hydraulic tubes for heaavy lifting, hell, even something like a hedge fund or life insurance plans might even work here.

Someone knocked on the carriage door, and auntie opened a little window, showing a middle-aged man's bearded face.

"Lady Yuehua," said uncle Geng Wei, "we should be able to reach Riverstone village by sundown at this pace."

"No need to rush, Geng Wei," she said, "we're in good company."

"Understood, lady Yuehua." He excused himself and auntie closed the window again.

Neither I nor grandpa Shan were very fond of small talk, and after aunt Yuehua had exhausted her more interesting stories, the inside of the carriage fell into a stale silence. It was times like these when I missed the smaller comforts of life, like shitty radios or 4G internet streaming.

For lack of anything better to do, I brought my hands up in front of me and started concentrating spirit power out of my palms and forming it into a ball, generating a faint condensation of yellow light.

I looked up and saw grandpa Shan watching me with glazed eyes, then turned to auntie who pursed her lips.

"Why don't you cultivate," she said. "There's no harm in doing so."

I shrugged. "I'm still a few ways away from the sixteenth rank," I said. "Even if I skip cultivating one day, it wouldn't make much of a difference."

She looked at grandpa Shan. "I agree with little Jin," he said. "His progress is already good at still so young, having him always cultivating would make his foundation easy to shake. If possible, I'd rather he go through adversity, or barring that, to keep on exchanging pointers with his peers. At least until his body develops."

"And there you have it dearest aunt," I said—then emptied a full fifth of my spirit power into my hands and the ethereal ball became a near solid light. The power was pushing my hands apart but I kept it together through sheer force, like pushing two magnets into each other. It was starting to hum.

Auntie scooted closer to grandpa. "That looks a little dangerous, dearest nephew."

"Sorry auntie," I said. I opened my Domain over my hands and reabsorbed my spirit power, but part of it bled out and I was only able to reclaim half of what I'd spent. I then brought both legs up to sit in the lotus position over the cushions and opened Pranus Core. "I think I'll just follow what you said and cultivate instead."

She scooted back next to me and ruffled my hair. "Thank you, dearest nephew," she said. "If you'd like, auntie can keep you in her arms so you don't fall over like earlier."

It was a very tempting offer.

"No, little Jin," said grandpa Shan. "Sit next to me instead, I'd like to see how you circulate your energy."

Auntie tilted her head at him and said, "What for?"

I looked up at grandpa as well, before turning to auntie. "No one ever taught me how to cultivate."

Aunt Yuehua was a lady with a depth like the sea, but to see her so bewildered was a sight I never knew possible. She looked at me like I were a tiny talking duck: utterly ridiculous. "What?"

"He's right," said grandpa Shan. "I was out one morning then I happened upon him lying amongst the flowers already wearing his Crown and cultivating all on his own."

Though in hindsight, I probably should have lied about this or something. Maybe blamed it on watching my cousins. Saying I got it from awakening my Crown could be an invitation for trouble.

"How come I was never told of this?" she said, turning to me.

I now knew what deer felt like just before a car hit. "No one ever asked," I said.

Auntie's imposing demeanor just now seemed to deflate with her slumping against the back rest. "Of course," she said with a terse smile. "That's definitely in character for you."

"Come on little one," grandpa said, patting the spot next to him.

He had me sit with my back facing him in the small carriage and he set his hand on the center of my back. I breathed in and out, then sank into that trance-like state, taking in the energy of the universe. It had the faint fragrance of mountain flowers and sunshine.

A foreign sensation entered together with the energy I took in, this one like a heavy syrup versus the usual thin oil. The energy pulsed within my chest somewhere between my back and nestled between my lungs before radiating outwards towards my limbs then concentrating again by just behind my belly. It cycled a couple of times like that before settling down. It was a path I'd never taken before, or even ever considered.

I waited for a few moments before starting my own circulation—following the paths of the chakras. Starting from the base of the spine, the energy I took in condensed into that mass of power and rotating as it entered in a direction I could only call clockwise. The energy pooled to the brim and churned before extending towards the next chakra in the groin, and rotated there as well. Next came the solar plexus, then the heart, throat, third-eye, and finally the crown of my head. Each pool was filled to capacity before I let it all start pooling into my Crown through Pranus Core. Each chakra rotated at its own speed and in its own comfortable concentration as more and more energy traced paths upwards into my spirit, with each pool slowly expanding.

After a while, a gentle nudge brought me out from that trance-like state.

"Little Jin," grandpa said.

I opened my eyes and saw the baffled looks of my family. I sighed, and said, "Yes?"

Grandpa seemed to hesitate before saying, "You don't let the energy nourish your body?"

The chakras and how they were connected was something I learned about for my novel. Supposedly, my Amber Crown was for absorbing prana from the universe—so it wasn't too far off the mark. But this news of letting qi or whatever 'nourish' my body was an entirely new concept. "I can do that?" My voice rose in pitch.

Grandpa and auntie shared a look. "Is that how you're able to raise your ranks so fast?" grandpa asked.

"I don't know," I said, somewhat scandalized. "I don't even know how other people do it, but this has always worked for me so I never bothered asking." Auntie stuck her tongue against her cheek and grandpa pursed his lips. "And it's not like there's anything wrong with my spirit power, right?"

"You're not wrong," said grandpa, stroking his beard.

"And I'm not weaker than any of my cousins either." I was undefeated when it came to my spirit rank group because I had two abilities for one ring, then those higher than me I could beat with my little knowledge of some of my world's martial arts. But, the difference of another ring was something undeniable, and anyone above twenty was already too much to handle.

Grandpa nodded. "I really hope Yu Xiaogang is as good as we believe him to be."

"I hope so too," I said.

We later arrived at Riverstone just before sunset. It was good time for a shitty carriage, and the horses weren't too beat up from the hard journey. The guards took care of procuring lodging for us, and me and auntie were to share a room—score—while grandpa had one to his own, and the guards took up the ones surrounding ours. We then all ate together for dinner that night, and our meal was a simple helping of vegetable chowder and steamed buns but it had a taste close to home.

The following day, we woke up a little later than normal but got on the road within schedule. There were no stops left until the Heaven Dou capital so we rode on until well into the night. I kept cultivating on the road while auntie and grandpa sat bored to high heaven. Thankfully, there were no problems and we arrived at the city around nine in the evening. We then made our lodging in the Moon Pavilion itself and spent the rest of the night in relative comfort.

#

We agreed to stay in the capital for a few days before setting off for Nuoding city in the far West. This was time enough for grandfather to check whether the guards we'd hire were trustworthy, since we couldn't get too many of auntie's own forces, and for me to get some stuff I wanted.

I was out in the city with uncle Wei and was tasked by aunt Yuehua with familiarizing myself with the state of the market, as well as to buy myself a good spirit tool. I was then to report back to aunt Yuehua for evaluation. It was an effective way to keep a little brat occurpied, all things considered.

We were walking on the brick paved road of Merchant Street and basking in the sounds of the bustling city life. Out here, I was free to wear whatever I wanted since I blended in with the other little masters scattered about. It was entertaining how the people reacted to my looks, some made sure to steer clear off my way, some stared brazenly, and some still looked way too hungry. I was always told by my aunts—especially aunt Yuehua—and my mother that I had good looks, but to have it confirmed was still quite a confidence boost. Still, the implication of looking like that at a kid was off-putting.

I stopped at a stall selling raw gemstones, and found a sapphire geode the size of a melon with bits of it shining with the color of the sky. After a quick bout of haggling and trading for half off the price with a map of the greater Heaven Dou empire—since I only needed to look at pictures once to memorize them thanks to Brain Charger. I was able to buy it for dirt cheap at seven silver pieces. Like that, I traded my hand-drawn maps—which I totally copied off the other shops here and some of the maps we had back home—for some other bits and pieces: chunks of raw platinum, bottles of rubber tree sap, thumb-sized quartz and diamond crystals. It was an endless treasure trove of things valued way under what they were good for. There was even some magnesium powder and flints, and all I spent for it barely even reached a gold piece.

After that was a quick look at some metal works, and I bought a set of four steel plates and chopsticks for a measly eighty copper pieces a set. It was almost pitiful how little metal products were valued. Perhaps if I figured out how to make guns here I could do some real magic, and I bet Spirit Hall wouldn't expect any shrapnel filled bombs. Another few passes through the stores and I was able to get what I needed: glass jars of sulfuric acid, nitric acid, sulfur, and saltpeter. It was easy to tell from their characteristic smell and colors, and to think they were selling these off as 'alchemic' materials, well, they were all about to get a taste of some fancy chemistry sooner or later. The tallow will have to wait until after I set up a lab or some mobile set-up, and the charcoal I can get anywhere.

After all that though, uncle Wei didn't question my strange shopping habits, probably filing it away as a quirk of a little rich kid.

We were on our way to look for my next big purchase: a storage tool.

"Uncle Wei," I said, "do you happen to know of any famous foods in the capital?"

Uncle Wei looked to me and scratched his chin. "Besides the Peach Court's Five Treasure soup," he said, "not much else, though your aunt is quite fond of the Millennium Chef Parade's dumplings.

"Maybe we can check those out later," I said.

We then passed by a large shop marked 'Spirit Goods' in large lettering and I went in to check out the prices. They had some small volume storage tools going as high as two hundred gold coins for the shittiest looking pouch like grandpa Shan had, which had only three cubic cun of space. There were other shapes too, like women's purses with two cubic cun of space and some jewelry box looking things. But if we were talking about a storage tool, the best choice would be something inconspicuous and easy to conceal—preferably a ring.

I scoured the shop further, passing enchanted chests whose insides were as large as rooms and little boxes that could fit upwards of ten cubic cun, and still none caught my eye. I left the store disappointed, but just as determined to get the best.

We went through the produce and meats so I could do what I was told, and dearest lord saltwater fish was way too fucking expensive. This city wasn't that far from the sea so perhaps it was more an issue of access, like maybe there were some shit strong spirit beasts there or something. Vegetables were reasonably priced and even no matter where I asked, while meats were a lot more varied, still, quality was good for both, showing the strong agricultural ties of the city.

At eleven in the morning, lunch was approaching fast but I still wanted my storage tool. I hunted down every shop that sold even some semblance of them, and found some truly absurd prices. However, I eventually found the only shop that had a ring, and it had an amazing storage capacity of fifteen cubic cun, or approximately three cubic meters. It was just enough space as a small moving truck, and the price was just as impressive: a total of three thousand gold pieces.

Uncle Wei whistled beside me. "That's way too rich for my blood."

I sighed. "Same."

"Pretty sure if you ask your aunt she'd get it for you," he said, the sincerity was unmistakable.

"Nah," I said, "That's way too much money to spend on something not that important."

But I couldn't help myself and asked the clerk to see it. It felt real good in my hands, and for some reason, I could feel my spirit power react to it. Out of curiosity, I willed my Domain to cover the ring, and a new window appeared in Interface—indicating an Inventory.

I gestured uncle Wei to lean over, and whispered, "How unacceptable is murder as a bartering tool?"

The clerk looked at me funny, then uncle Wei laughed, slapping the man's shoulder. "Kids," uncle said, shrugging before laughing again, but the other guy just kept staring straight at me.

"One thousand gold pieces," I said, meeting his gaze with the most innocent smile I could muster.

"Three thousand," he said, unfazed.

I looked around and saw no one else nearby. I'd be lying if I said I didn't _actually_ consider murder there and then. With Devour, having him die of 'unknown' causes wouldn't have been difficult. "One and five," I said. "You'd be trying your luck too hard to charge three for that, and it'd be smarter to turn a profit now than regret it later, yes?"

"Three thousand," he still said, completely unperturbed.

"Fine, you win." I sighed and set three purple jade tablets on the table, and the clerk swiped them before my eyes.

The clerk bowed and said, "Pleasure doing business."

I shrugged. "Anything else you'd like to sell me?"

A smile played on that sly fox's lips. "Perhaps," he said.

#

The next few things the clerk showed me weren't as interesting, so we just left the one hit wonder. I then treated uncle Wei to a meal at some cubby noodle house he suggested, and I had my fill of some rich beef noodles and freshly cracked eggs. It was worth every damned copper piece I spent.

We then made our way back to auntie and I had to give my report in her main study. She sat on an ornate couch of dark and heavy wood, with cushions decorated with golden embroidery. The room wasn't very large, but all the furnishings were elegant and regal. Auntie also had a small corner filled with tomes and books, some for learning the ways of the court, some for entertainment, and another some for knowledge in general.

"Crops are doing great to the South and East, and the less temperate goods are in better condition than the ones coming from the tropical areas. Judging from the trash heaps there are barely any losses in a day, which means good transportation and excellent storage methods. Though there was a slight shortage of pumpkins, but I'm not sure why, maybe a storm or a disease. Metal prices were also almost the same as back in that frontier city near Star Dou Forest, and there were a surprising number of people buying at face value."

Auntie kept nodding as I listed off what I found out.

"Fresh water fish are cheaper than the meats, but anything from the sea costs an arm and a leg and I don't understand why. The sea isn't even that far from here, and spirit tools make transportation so much easier." A five Jin chunk of tuna was being sold for ten gold pieces—a Jin is approximately half a kilogram—so about two and a half kilos. "And we all share the same roads, so it doesn't make sense unless there're some damn evil things out in the sea."

She chuckled at that and motioned me to keep going.

"Literacy is also higher here since there were a lot of shops selling books, paper, and ink." But there was still no printing press judging from how expensive the damned things were. I also didn't see much rubber goods besides the sap, so that was another thing filed for future use. "However, the market can easily be exploited because shops don't adhere to any one standard."

Auntie raised an eyebrow at that.

"And by that I mean I was able to trade them all some maps I made to give me discounts for things, and no one bothered checking with how I kept bartering for goods from shop to shop." Using the beautiful technique called arbitrage in my previous life.

"I'd like to see this map of yours," she said.

So, I passed her one of my maps. Auntie looked it over, then brought out one of her own from her shelves. She compared them side by side on the table and got a compass to check the finer points. "This is very detailed," she said. "and I do recognize these landforms and roads." She traced her finger along a familiar path leading to Star Dou Forest. "And the scale is also good." She set it down and looked at me, her pinkish lips forming an unvoiced question.

"I can memorize things easy," I said. It was also thanks to that that I was able to trade back and forth for the goods I wanted, memorizing prices and what those misers were wanting for. "I also made sure to omit the Clear Sky's lands from it, just in case."

"That was very thoughtful of you," she said.

Then I lowered my head and twiddled my thumbs. "Theeeen there's also the matter of my storage tool," I said. I walked over to her and showed her my ring. "I uhh… had to spend three thousand gold coins for this."

She shook her head as if swallowing something large and barbed and bitter. Personal spirit tools averaged five hundred gold pieces to about two thousand, and those higher than that were considered for home or travel use already.

"But it has fifteen cubic cun of space," I said, "and for some reason, it connects with my Crown." I summoned my spirit, bathing the room in a gold glow and concentrated on the new Inventory menu. A list of items appeared in my view, overlaid with a three-dimensional display of where and how the items were stored in those three cubic meters of space.

Then I expanded my Domain, filling the room with my Crown's light. I concentrated on the chair I'd taken earlier from her dining room, and an outline of it replaced all the other views—like setting down furniture in The Sims. Concentrating again, I summoned the chair to just in front of auntie, though the process from start to finish took a good half minute or so to do.

Her expression remained neutral. "Interesting," she said.

The display ate about five percent spirit power for the summoning, then I felt for the vase on the window sill and stored it away. A new item appeared on the menu, and the vase appeared in that ethereal box in Interface. My consumption of spirit power was the same whether via summon or storage and didn't matter whether large or small, but the degree of control and the range at which I could summon things was limited only by my Domain's own, and right now I could do all that anywhere within ten meters of me.

I then summoned the vase to on top of the chair, surprising auntie with the small crash since I missed the seat by a good centimeter. It's only real limitation was it couldn't store living things. The ant I tried storing died the moment it entered. "I had to have it, auntie."

Her eyes had a twinkle in them. "Can you also store any articles already on another person?"

After some quick experimentation, we found out that I couldn't as long as some part of the item was touching the person. And some proximity to their body was within that limit, like coin purses tied to a sash—or clothes. However, this ranged summoning and storing only worked with my Domain out, and without it I could only do normal spirit tool things.


	6. Chapter 6

Now that I had a storage ring, I finally understood the joy of shopping.

I bought everything I could possibly want or need, and with the three cubic meters of space, there was plenty of room for hoarding. I bought ten days' worth of non-perishable rations and enough water to last me thrice that, then a couple of robes in my size and more raw cloth and some sewing materials for making more. Then the jars of acids, sulfur, and saltpeter were tucked away into a chest and secured with clay powder so they wouldn't be jostled around after summoning, and the little treasures I bought were all tucked away into another chest.

I also had another chest of more mundane stuff: seasonings, herbs, and spices for cooking I could recognize; smelling salts, willow bark, mint leaves and peppermint, needles and gut; cooking oil, beeswax, candles, eating utensils, cooking pots and pans. Then I had some sacks of oats, firewood, cotton, charcoal, and realgar powder—for keeping snakes and animals away while camping. Uncle Wei was the unfortunate victim to come with me to get all that, and with all the back and forth bartering I did to minimize my costs—not to mention try my hand at some arbitrage—I even ended up with a net gain of two gold and forty-seven silver coins out of my personal budget of five gold.

Uncle Wei was eyeing my latest deal, trading ten kilos of beef for eight kilos of raw iron. "Remind me again why?" he said.

I led him away from Merchant Street, but eyes everywhere followed us. A kid doing all sorts of weird stuff was bound to arouse suspicion sooner or later, not that I was doing anything illegal. We stopped at an away corner away from scrying eyes. I looked left and right to see if there was anyone nearby. There were none.

"I want to see how bad I can run this economy before anyone catches up," I said.

"What a precocious kid," he said with a grimace. "But that doesn't explain why you're getting so much iron."

I waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "It's nothing important, just a personal project."

Uncle Wei knit his brows and pursed his lips. "I'm starting to regret coming with you," he said.

I passed him a gold coin. "In for a penny, in for a pound."

He sighed and said, "You'll be out of my hair in a few days anyway."

We went back to the market and I did a few more deals: the raw iron for hides of leather; leather for wax candles; candles for seed grains; and seeds for more raw iron than I started with. All these I took note of thanks to Brain Charger's capacity for memorizing and my Inventory to seal the deals as fast and quiet as possible. Another man's surplus was another man's deficit, this was true for any economy, and to have both a bartering and monetary system in place was just too easy to take advantage of.

The guy who traded me the iron for seeds also sold his pottery grade clay for cheap, and from there I eventually got myself another helping of seeds which I brought back to him for raw copper this time around. The copper I then sold to the empire treasury for an equal amount of copper pieces, which I then used to buy a shit ton of charcoal. This I then used to trade for some fine furs from some nomads who came from the North, and the deficit they paid for with a sack of fruits that reacted to my spirit power.

After the deal, we made sure to disappear as fast as possible.

"You sly rascal," Uncle Wei said with the widest smile, "you actually scored these kinds of treasures from this skulking around of yours?" He lifted the sack up and down. "This roughly thirty jin of Snow Lotus would surely help your cultivation at least rise a rank or two at your age, just make sure to eat them after every meal until you finish them."

"Lucky me then," I said, and stored the fruits into my ring. If not for their lack of knowledge, those nomads wouldn't have traded these as just change for some thirty kilograms of coal—though admittedly those would surer save their asses than a bunch of fruit that could increase spirit power.

Piqued with my good fortune, I set out to find more things that reacted to my spirit power.

I found another from a travelling farmer looking to sell off his goods further North. He had a pouch of medicament leaves for relieving fatigue is what he called them. He was looking for some furs to travel with, but only had a budget of about fifty copper coins, he also asked if I could strike him a deal for some camping goods. I just passed him what I already had, and he gave me what I wanted.

After we made like the wind, I showed Uncle Wei the stuff.

"Dragon Zoysia this time?" he said gob smacked. "These are perfect for refining spirit cleansing medicines and helps recover spirit power, you sure have a knack for picking out treasures."

"I'm finding the merchant life more and more enticing by the minute," I said.

Uncle Wei frowned and said, "I think it's safer to just have you continue on the path towards becoming our sect's future master."

Some of the furs I got from the nomads I then sold to a clothing and textiles store and got about fifty meters of rope and some balls of twine which I forgot to get earlier. I then restocked on what I traded out for the Dragon Zoysia and got dried meats to go with the flat breads.

My next conquest was a black pearl from the sea I bought off a merchant reselling fish and other foodstuffs. It came from a differently colored clam, but only very slightly. It had a tinge of grey against the other all white clams, and I had to buy it directly for a gold coin together with half a kilo, but that was nothing compared to what I got.

The moment it touched my storage ring, the pearl melded into it, turning its matte grey metal into a lustrous black, but the biggest surprise was when my Inventory expanded by another two cubic meters of space. It was exasperating how having spirit power gave so many advantages over normal people.

We prowled the rest of Merchant Street for another target and my senses pointed me to another peddler selling chunks of ore and raw gems. I let the smallest trickle of my Domain wash over the random rocks and got a response from the adult fist-sized greenish rock with blue specks of something shiny.

I reached out to get it, and accidentally touched someone else's hand, as a warm giddy feeling spread from my Domain and seeped into my Crown. The hand shrank back, and I saw it was a young girl's who looking at me with the brightest eyes. She had pink shoulder-length hair cut to a straight edge, and was wearing a fine silk robe of white decorated with rhinestones.

"Sorry," I said to her, then picked up my target and turned to the peddler. "How much, uncle?"

"Twenty copper," the peddler said, his eyes darting between mine and the girl's.

"Hey!" said the girl, "I saw that first." Her hands were balled into fists at her sides and she puffed up her cheeks.

I paid for the piece and let my Domain fill into every nook and cranny of it together with some spirit power. Then, I turned to the girl and said, "You were the one to retreat first."

Now that I had a better look, she was taller than me by about an inch, and she had the emblem of the Seven Treasure sect on her clothes. Her expression shifted from a slight frown to a baffled grimace. "You'd actually talk back like this to a lady?" she said.

The rock was starting to warm in my palms so I pushed more into it to check for any effects. I pouted my lips at her. "Please, big sister, junior is simply an avid collector of fascinating rocks."

I saw an old man behind her step up to the side, as a pressure bore down on me like the sharp edge of a blade pressed against my head for a split second. I fell back a step when the spirit pressure disappeared. The old man's gaze fell on me, and besides him being stronger, I also knew better than to step on the toes of someone who looked ancient enough to be dead but was still kicking.

I looked up to the man with the wispy tufts of hair on his head, then back to the girl and knit my brows. "Your grandfather?" I asked with as confused a look as I could manage. Meanwhile, lines of cold sweat trailed down my back.

The girl puffed out her chest, "Of course," she said. "That's my grandpa Sword."

I looked back at the old man, who nodded to me and said, "Little one, would you mind letting my little Rongrong here have that rock?"

By now, the stone was already somewhat hot—an unexpected reaction, but it wasn't worth the mess these two could bring if I made a fuss. And to be called by a name other than his own, I wouldn't be surprised if he was a Titled Douluo. I sighed and played stubborn, huffing with a grunt.

"Wouldn't you rather show off to the cute sister," this grandpa Sword said with a smile. He had a serene and natural air to him when he wasn't feeling murderous.

I looked at the girl he called Rongrong, and he wasn't wrong with calling her cute. Her cheeks looked soft and there was a taut and supple glow to her young skin—and I was sure this girl's spirit power was about as high as mine. Her complexion was something I've only ever seen on other spirit masters, and none of my just as well fed and well cared for cousins looked as… pristine as her, for lack of a better word.

"Fine," I said. "And…" I looked back to this grandpa Sword. "Yes," I said, then looked down. "She is pretty indeed." I extended my hand to Rongrong, presenting her the rock.

She took it without hesitation, and smiled something bright. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement, little brother."

I looked at her straight in the eyes and sighed. "And as an apology," I said, and pulled out an inch-long and wide uncut ruby from my ring. "Here."

I passed her the gem, and a smile lit up on her face.

"Now," said the old man, chuckling. "Aren't you a little young to be making moves on my granddaughter?"

I put my hands together and made to bow only very slightly and said, "Sword senior, junior only wishes to properly apologize to the beautiful lady." To lower one's head was something nobility wouldn't do, and auntie was sure to drill that into me in the little time I spent in her Moon Pavilion.

"A fine gentleman then," said the old man. He bowed slightly as well before turning to Rongrong. "Come now Rongrong, your father will be looking for you soon."

"Yes grandpa," she said and did a slight bow my way as well.

When she turned to leave, I raised my hand as if to chase after something and said, "Umm, wait, please." The two looked back. "If this Tang Jin would be so bold, may I know sister's name?" I bowed from the waist and closed my eyes hard, going as low as near fifty-five degrees, the lowest a noble should ever lower themselves. I looked up from my bow but kept my body bent, and smiled Rongrong's way.

Her eyes widened before she looked up to her grandpa Sword with lips pressed tight, and the old man nodded back with a small frown. She turned back to me and cleared her throat and said, "I am Ning Rongrong." She smiled again, then quickly turned back and pulled her grandpa along together with her.

I stayed there standing with a stupid grin on my face until I was sure they were long gone—then I ran for the nearest dead-end alley with uncle Wei following close behind. When I was sure we were finally alone, I collapsed to my knees and threw up everything in my stomach.

"Little Jin!" uncle Wei said, then started rubbing my back. "That was Sword Douluo Chen Xin just now," his voice was wavering. "What happened to you back there?"

Holy shit that guy really was a fucking Douluo! "One thing led to another," I said, standing myself up and dusting off my clothes. Good thing none of my lunch splashed on my clothes. "His spirit power touched me and it was the single most frightening thing I've ever experienced." It was like a great big axe suddenly chopped me in half, or like I fell face first over a sword turned edge-up, like I had no choice but to get killed.

"Why would you even try to woo his granddaughter in front of him?" His face was all sorts of annoyed, surprised, and impressed.

"What?" I spat out some leftover bits. "I did that to find out her name."

"Why would you even risk offending someone clearly from the Seven Treasure sect?" He shook his head. "Hell, that girl is most likely even the heir of the clan to have one of their two Douluo guarding her."

I took out a water skin from my Inventory and washed away the bad taste. "No, I'm sure this Ning Rongrong is their heir and she most likely had innate full spirit power when she awakened." Wait… but she was surely older than me, so maybe I'm wrong in this.

"Was that rock worth all that?" he said, looking me over for anything out of place.

"It might have been," I said. "But in a way, getting to know a potential future heir to one of the two other great sects is already good." And she also found that stone in some manner like I did, and for sure it was related to my Crown. There was also that warm giddy feeling that started from my spirit. Maybe their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda has some relation to my Amber Crown?

After that run-in, I kept up my trading, selling, and buying, and at the end brought in a haul of: five kilos of Snow Lotus fruits, that black pearl that expanded my ring's storage, the pouch of Dragon Zoysia leaves, a good profit of about seven gold and twenty-three silver coins, and about seventy-two kilos of raw iron. All that iron I'd have to convert to steel somehow, and even if I couldn't, I can at least make a hand cannon and some rounds from it. For the propellant though, I'll first need to nitrate some cotton into nitrocellulose.

#

We later arrived home, tired, but otherwise successful.

"What did you do this time?" grandpa Shan asked. I'd already told him and auntie of what I did yesterday, and my amazement at finding my pretty ring. I summoned the spoils of my conquest, and he opened up the sack and pouch respectively. "You have a sack of Snow Lotus!" He smacked his forehead. "How much did you have to spend for this?" his voice was filled with a twinge of apprehension.

"I traded it for some sixty jin of charcoal," I said, "they also gave me some furs for it." Though the deal was actually for the fur, but no one needed reminding of that.

Grandpa Shan narrowed his eyes at me and said, "Charcoal?"

"There were some travelling Northerners looking to warm their houses," I said, "so I get them what they needed."

"But I've never told you of Snow Lotus before." He looked at uncle Wei. "Did you teach him?"

Uncle Wei shook his head.

"No grandpa," I said, "I was able to find them with my spirit." I made sure to not speak of my Hammer when the non-sect members were present, so everyone at least knew I was a variant spirit carrier with a frightening rate of cultivation.

"Such fortune," he said. He then fingered through the smaller pouch and looked inside, taking one of those half-inch long leaves. He smelled it before putting it back where it came from. "And Dragon Zoysia? You truly have Dragon Zoysia." He was shaking his head slowly and rubbing at the small bald spot on top of his head.

"That I got from a farmer looking for camping goods," I said.

"Are you sure you're not just lying or was swindled?" Grandpa Shan asked.

"I verified it myself," said uncle Wei. "Little Jin here really did manage to pick out all of those."

"Also," I said, pulling out all the iron I traded for. "Would you happen to know of any smithys nearby we can trust to do something for me?"

Grandpa Shan at this time had his lips now forming a deep frown. "You ask me that when your spirit is—"

"Oh!" I said, interrupting grandpa. "I also found this pearl that expanded my storage ring. It now has a total size of twenty-five cubic cun.

"Amd what do you have planned for all this," grandpa Shan said.

"I wish to have something made that I thought of just a few days ago," I said. "And it's a metal tool that would theoretically allow anyone some semblance of fightning back against at leatst spirit masters below the thirtieth rank.

Grandpa's eyes brightened at that. "Then we will address this once we get back from Yu Xiaogang." He nodded and said, "Very good little Jin."

"Also, grandpa," I said, and he turned to me, gesturing to go on. "I met with Sword Douluo and the future heir of the Seven Treasure sect just earlier," I said.

He raised an eyebrow. Then uncle Wei stepped in, "And little Jin here also tried to woo her."

"Surprising that the heir to Seven Treasure would be a girl," grandpa said. "And you like her?" He had on a smile I'd only ever seen on TV, the kind that said, 'I know what's going on.'

"She was indeed beautiful," I said. "But that's irrelevant right now with us being so young, though she looked older than me because of her height. I also have reason to believe she had full innate spirit power when she awakened."

Grandpa nodded, and said, "What about Chen Xin?"

"He seemed livid for a moment," I said, "but calmed down after I gave Rongrong a ruby to make up for buying the rock we both saw at the same time."

"Did he threaten you to give up that ore?" grandpa asked. It was obvious I didn't get it after that incident.

"No," I said, "he didn't threaten me, but he did the next big thing by releasing some spirit power and making me feel like I'd been chopped in half."

I then pointed at uncle Wei who said, "But this wave little Jin told you of, I wasn't able to feel, so it might be some property of his spirit."

Grandpa Shan considered that for a moment and said, "Yes, we truly do need to reach Xiaogang soon, and with little Jin's haul, the twentieth rank wouldn't be too far either.

Auntie finished her lessons for the day then and joined the conversation. "What's this I heard about a lady?"

Grandpa Shan shrugged, "Our little Jin here dared to ask for the Seven Treasure sect's princess' name."

"That must be Ning Fengzhi's daughter, Ning Rongrong," auntie said, "I've met her a few times before, but her temperament wasn't very good."

"Really?" I said. "She was meek enough when I asked for her name."

A light shone in the other three's eyes, and auntie crouched down to look at me at eye-level.

"Is this true, Jin?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, "but I did it out of necessity instead of because I had a crush on her."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "It's perfectly alright to find yourself looking at girls from time to time," she said. "And if you happen to like boys, then at least provide the sect with an heir first."

"I'm not even five, auntie!" I raised my tiny arms. "Marriage is way too far down the line to even be considering at a time like this."

Auntie smirked. "I never said anything about marriage."

Uncle Wei and grandpa Shan put on some shit-eating grins.

"Why are we even talking about this?" I crossed my arms and turned away from them.

"To think our little Jin is growing up so fast," said grandpa Shan.

"And is such a lady killer too," added uncle Wei.

The next few days until we left weren't as eventful, and I was no longer able to find any more things that reacted to my spirit power after meeting Rongrong and Sword Douluo, so that was unfortunate—but mere coincidence, I think not. I instead passed the days spending time with auntie and getting to know the people we hired as guards and cultivating in place of sleep to best take advantage of the Snow Lotus fruits. In those five days, I gained as much as a quarter of the way towards sixteenth just from diligently cultivating and making sure to eat those fruits correctly.

On the day of our departure, a smaller carriage than what we used to get here with was parked in front of the Moon Pavilion.

"Little Jin," auntie said, hugging me one last time. "Please promise me you'll behave on this trip?" She stared straight into my eyes and the warmth started spreading to my cheeks.

"I promise I'll be good," I said.

"No more of your shenanigans with fiddling with Titled Douluos, alright?" grandpa Shan added. Also, I doubt grandpa will ever let me live this down.

"I second this condition," uncle Wei added from the side.

"I won't be as careless next time," I said.

Aunt Yuehua knocked on wood. "Let's hope there won't be a need for a next time."

Grandpa Shan nodded before leading me into the carriage, and since we both had spirit tools, we technically had no baggage to speak of. I stuck my head out of the rented car, it was lower in quality to auntie's but since I was going to keep cultivating anyway, the means didn't matter much. Eating my fill of the Snow Lotus fruits over the past five days made my cultivation shoot up from the start of the fifteenth to all the way to half to sixteen in those five days, and since we had another two weeks to Nuoding, I should be able to reach the sixteenth rank in no time and maybe also reach nearer the seventeenth.

"Take care you all," auntie said as our cart started our journey.

We left Heaven Dou empire capital at around eight in the morning, and made good time over the next two uneventful weeks reaching Nuoding city on the appointed time instead of the expected fifteen or sixteen days, I also reached the sixteenth rank then.


	7. Chapter 7

We were on the road to Nuoding, and were approaching Suotuo city in the Balak Kingdom. It had already been eight days since we first started, and I was already to the half-way point to the sixteenth rank. Satisfied with my progress, and because my spirit power seemed to have been… unstable lately, grandpa Shan said to let my spirit return to a state of equilibrium first.

I was walking alongside our cart, together with uncles Feng Zhi and Wang Hu—they were the two bodyguards we hired to accompany us on our little trip.

"Do you see those clouds over there," said uncle Zhi, he was wearing a deep brown robe and had his hair in a braid reaching to his shoulder.

I tried to see where he was pointing at, but couldn't tell. "Those nearer the horizon of the ones almost above us?"

"The ones nearer the horizon," he said. "You can tell they're moving away from us because they haven't change position even if we've been walking for a few hours already."

I nodded. That much was obvious from a simple understanding of weather phenomena. "Understood," I said.

He nodded as well. "And if you've noticed how thin those clouds are, we can also rest assured the rest of the way shouldn't be wet." Then he pointed to a bunch of clouds over to the west, these ones were a fluffy white. "Those clouds are the ones you should be wary of," he said. "Since they still aren't grey, we can tell in case they reach there shouldn't be any rain, but those are also the ficklest and can turn within the hour into something fierce."

I made sure to remember everything he could tell about the road. Back in my previous life, travelling was as easy as booking a taxi or train or plane, but here, good old fashion journeying was all they had. "And would the breeze we feel while walking on the road be the same as where the wind blows?"

He smiled and said, "Only when you find yourself walking along a wide open plain, anywhere else and there could be other factors interfering, especially with a forest road like here." He gestured to the left, pointing at the rustling leaves. "Those are rustling towards the right, indicating a breeze going towards that direction." Then he held onto my shoulder and gently nudged me to stop. "Focus on that patch of leaves there further away."

I did so, focusing on where he pointed and pooled spirit power into my eyes to improve them—and as expected, those were blowing the other way. "I see."

"The trees sometimes make the wind twist and turn as they pass, and their being cooler than the earth makes them untrustworthy with judging the wind even if you climb to the tops." He stood back up and led us to catch up to the cart.

I sighed. Spirit power was fun, but all these petty things in life sure cut down on the enjoyment. "Travelling isn't very easy, now is it?"

Uncle Zhi chuckled. "You're too young to speak of hardships, little Jin." He ruffled my hair.

We continued our way like that until we reached a brook.

"We should let the horses rest for a while," said uncle Hu from the carriage's front. "We can also set camp here."

"I'm alright with it," I said.

"Then I agree," said grandpa Shan.

Grandpa went down and stretched his legs while I stood to the side and watched uncles Hu and Zhi make quick work of decoupling the horses as they explained each step, then inspected the cart for any repairs needed. After that, they led the horses to a nearby pasture to let them graze.

"Aren't you worried your horses will run?" I asked.

Uncle Hu shook his head. "There's no need to worry, little Jin," he said. "This pair of Dama and Xiaoma are both trained well, they wouldn't leave us unless something truly frightening appeared."

"Yeah, I'd be scared too," I said under my breath, then shrugged. "And I guess we could try the next lesson?"

"We'll start after setting up camp, alright little Jin?" he replied.

I contracted uncles Zhi and Hu outside their already good deal with grandpa, and promised them five gold coins each for whatever they can teach me about the road. Uncle Zhi preferred the big why's and how's, like how to know if rain is coming, or if there is fire somewhere. He also taught me about some known star positions and the general directions of the kingdoms within Heaven Dou over the last few days.

On the other hand, uncle Hu who loved going into the finer details of whatever he had, like the kinds of ropes and knots I should use for what purpose, or like how to tell edible plants from poisonous ones or to care for horses and how to ride.

When we finished, the four of us agreed to split roles: Grandpa Shan to start the fire, uncle Zhi to get some firewood and water, then me and uncle Hu were to catch us some lunch and dinner.

The two of us went into the forest with uncle Hu holding a large knife and me with his bow and arrow. My first step into the overgrown grotto was a bit different compared to Star Dou. There, it was as if there was a constant presence watching, but there was nothing like that here. Instead, it felt… asleep somehow.

I walked over the gnarled roots and some taller than normal Blue Silver grass brushed against my legs. I looked closer and noticed their leaves were thicker than what I remembered from our mountain. And as someone who used to feed on their life force so much, of course I'd be excited to also eat some from these ancient looking grasses. I'll get grandpa to take me back here later to do my business.

"Little Jin," uncle Hu whispered, "come." He crouched down and pointed at a bush.

I followed his lead and leaned closer, feeling the grasses under my feet shift and sway. "What are we looking at?" I asked, trying to see anything strange with the bush.

"Here," he said, gesturing at a broken twig near the ground. "If you're looking for people, you normally look at bushes and patches of grass where there were paths cut through them."

Uncle Hu gestured with his hand and brushed it through the bush, creating a depression like impression on the mess of branches and leaves. "People don't bother moving around plants since the shortest path is always a straight line. But animals aren't always large or strong enough to ignore such natural barriers, so they go around."

"And what about scared animals?" I said.

He smiled at that and pressed his body closer to the ground, finger tips touching the area around the bush. "That's when you start looking for footprints." He felt around for another few moments and said, "Here."

I reached with my hand, and he pressed it to the indentations he found. It was a long and slender mark. "A rabbit?"

"Yes," he said.

I tried to look for more footprints, feeling with my fingertips the undergrowth but found none. "Where did it go?"

"Let's see," he said, and dipped his head sideways, putting one eye parallel and as close to the ground. "Dust eventually settles when in a forest like this, and normally I'd be tracking for any bent grasses or broken twigs, but the light here isn't very good."

We went around and continued looking at the ground as I spread my domain as thin as possible over those areas we'd already checked. He found a faint trail, and let me feel what he read. The indentations on the ground weren't as distinct, but I could just faintly make out the front and back toes.

Uncle Hu gave me a stick to bend grasses with every now and then, and a branch with leaves to obscure my footprints with. Like that, we followed the rest of the tracks, taking care not to leave any of our own. He would also sometimes tell me to walk in some direction then to walk backwards and continue the path at an angle while making sure I kept my balance as close as possible to when walking forward.

I had my spirit power permeating the ground and monitoring whatever I could, as limited as I was without my Crown.

We eventually found our prey and returned to camp with two rabbits and three pheasants plus some wild plants we could use for food. I took out some cooking pans and a knife and board, and in an hour, all four of us were already waiting for the food to cook.

I then excused myself together with grandpa to return to that patch of unusual Blue Silver Grass and stayed there by myself. Grandpa didn't mind, and it was close enough for him to hear if anything went wrong. I ate my pheasant and rabbit there, and the tough meat was manageable thanks to some spirit power. Afterwards, I ate as many Snow Lotus fruits as I could before spreading Devour around me to cultivate, and opening Pranus Core to its widest.

Compared to the bright and cool mountains, the air here was heavier, as if there was a uniform something blanketing everything. Devour touched the plants around me and started feeding off their life force, transferring everything back to me through Core and filling my chakras one by one with a cool and refreshing energy before entering my Crown.

Pulse after pulse of life force filtered in, together with the energy released by those fruits and the cultivation bar steadily rose a percent a minute. I stayed like that in the stillness of the forest, and slowly attacked the sixteenth rank.

Following my choice to start feeding off the life force of other creatures on top of my own cultivation, I'd noticed my increase in ranks were rather seamless especially compared to that stupid experience of trying to reach eleven without a spirit ring.

After a while, when my spirit power was already nearing three quarters of the way, something touched Devour, and a different sensation entered—this one more lively and warm compared to the plants. I opened my eyes and saw a rabbit twitching with its feet up at the edge of my golden light. It seemed to be a regular rabbit that accidentally entered my Domain and had its life force sucked out of it.

Curious, I had my light finish what it started and directed all my spirit power to take everything I could from it. The dispersed light concentrated into a beam and settled on the creature as life poured into me, vibrant and warm. It was like a flash of red versus the cool and calm blue as the rabbit stopped all movement and the flow stopped. It was a strange sensation through and through. And in a stroke of cruelty, I found myself daring to strip the old grasses around me until they died.

So, I did, focusing that intense beam of devouring energy to sweep across. My cultivation bar kept rising, nearing eighty percent and it grew even faster still. Meanwhile the grasses kept bending lower and lower as if getting crushed by a pressure. But what surprised me most was that when those grasses disintegrated… they left behind white spirit rings.

After the shock faded, unimaginable fear settled into the deepest pits of my stomach. Whoever said Blue Silver Grass was trash was real fucking stupid. Like really fucking stupid. Here they were, ten-year spirit rings all floating in one direction, there weren't a lot, but there were enough to concern. And where there were ten-year spirit rings, then there'd be bound to be thousands, ten-thousands, and maybe even hundred-thousands.

Seeing those spirit rings floating and the waste that would happen, I shrouded them in Devour's light, both spirit rings and the husks they left behind, and all of it flowed into me as energy—but the fresh and cool blue became with a still and solemn green.

I bathed in that heavy atmosphere, each fading pulse like the last throes of a dying aria, and the air seemed to scream as that overbearing gold smothered those fading white lights.

When it all finished, only my light remained as the earth where it shone on became barren, neither rings nor withered leaves left, and from a quiet corner of Interface was the number sixteen. It was a tranquil passing into the next rank, unlike the usual outbursts of energy that ripped whatever I wore apart.

The cultivation bar also displayed around thirteen percent progress already there. But to have tackled the last steps towards the next rank in the span of a few hours was already beyond belief, and to think I still had more around me…

#

The following morning, I lied in the middle of a barren patch of land, all the trees withered, some animal carcasses scattered, and none of those ten-year Blue Silver Grass spirit plants remaining.

But then, I was already on the precipice of the eighteenth rank.

"Little Jin?!" came grandpa Shan's frantic shout.

I expanded my Domain to as far as it would go, bathing everything in gold as my insides twisted and turned with the effort. "I'm here," I said. "I'm alright."

A few moments later, he arrived in front of me, his hair in tangle and blown listless by a stale and cold breeze. The wind carried a rotten stench, and my insides burned with a white-hot pain.

"Are you alright?" he said, eyes darting left and right, spirit power thrumming, then crouched to help me stand up.

I closed my Domain and evened my breathing. "I am, grandpa."

He looked around, mouth opening and closing before he shook it off. "What happened here?"

Guilt, perhaps, reared its ugly head. I sighed but my breath caught in my chest. "It was all me, grandpa. I… took everything from here, even the rings of those Blue Silver Grasses."

Grandpa Shan stared at me with his mouth agape. "You?" He gestured at the barren clearing, a good twenty-five meters in diameter devoid of life. "Grass?"

"Yes," I said.

He blinked hard and said, "Alright."

After a few breaths and a dizzy spell, I stayed upright long enough to try walking, but each step threw my insides for a loop as my spirit power burned in my chest, the mess of energy raging and toiling. I spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to my knees.

"Little Jin?!" he said, and was by my side in a heartbeat. He put a hand to my back and that heavy feeling was pushed back somehow, alleviating the growing and buckling energy. "Your spirit power is running amok," he said. "You need to force it out!"

"No," I said. The lives I took were my burden to bear, and my pride wouldn't allow me to just let it go. "I refuse."

"Don't be a fool, little Jin," he said, livid. "You can take more later, but to damage yourself now is just as foolish as you taking more than what you could in the first place."

"I'm already at the peak before the eighteenth rank, why don't you just help me get over this?!" I spat out.

He growled something fierce and further injected his spirit power to suppress that energy, but the influx drew out a series of hacking coughs that scratched my throat with each heave. "Then do something quick you fool!"

I wrapped myself in my Domain and directed the spirit power into my Crown, the trail it took lighting up in my head like a searing brand, but none of it would enter. I then summoned my Hammer, remembering the black hole-like hunger it had, and pushed the energy into it instead, but my insides roiled more and more as my heart pounded out an erratic rhythm.

I opened Pranus Core and activated Devour on myself, not entirely sure what I wanted to accomplish, but my nose started bleeding and nothing seemed to be working. My ring then floated into view, its yellow with a purple twinge pushing my desperation to someplace new. I willed it to connect to Pranus Core and opened Devour to as much as I could and soldiered through my body getting torn apart.

The wild energy was roused to cycle within me, filtering through Pranus Core and through my spirit ring and back into my body in a loop. When it passed the first time, more blood escaped my lips as my ears started bleeding as well, but I kept it going, relying on grandpa keeping everything else at bay with his massive power. More passes were completed, and the cycle went faster and faster taking a few fractions of a degree away from the white-hot pain.

My cultivation bar refused to rise, and I got the feeling something was blocking me somewhere. I directed part of the energy to enter my chakras, filling each pool and cycling the excess through my two spirits as well as my ring. Crown, Hammer, ring, chakras, Core, that was the path the energy took, and still my cultivation wouldn't go up, and neither would my spirits accept any of the power.

"Little Jin," grandpa said, "what's happening now?"

"I can't push it into my spirits," I said. "The power refuses."

Grandpa growled again, "What did you expect from taking that energy from Blue Silver Grass?! There's nothing majestic or overbearing about some lowly grass!"

I growled back in return. "Less talking, more suggestions! And didn't you hear me say those grasses had _ten-year_ rings?! Get that through your head grandpa! How many people would even dare hunt for Blue Silver Grass to take as a ring?!"

He pushed more of his energy into me. "You, you stupid idiot!"

"Well this idiot's probably gonna die unless we do something fast!"

"I'm not the one refusing to expel the energy!"

I tried doing as he said, swallowing my stupid pride as panic stabbed its grubby claws into each of my ribs and lungs and heart and throat, and tried to spit out that excess energy. But to no avail.

"I can't!" Holy shit what the fuck did I do?! "I can't grandpa!" All pretense of calm and the bearing of a king dissolved from the person who came to call himself Tang Jin and fucking cried as the energy started chipping away his heart. Tears of blood running down his face. "What the fuck did I do wrong?!"

The old man's eyes widened, "Where'd you pick up that kind of language young man?!"

"Just do something you old hack!"

All that energy being used to suppress the wild fire then started moving, tracing a path from the belly and radiating into the limbs as a pressure bore down on them and pressed it into bones, flesh, and innards. The person who came to call himself Tang Jin was thrust into a world that only knew of suffering, and the regret of hubris and greed. Wave after wave of fire would wash into and brand themselves into the smallest pieces of him, each one writhing and screaming in their own little voice and in their own little version of hell.

Time passed somehow, but the gravitas of what was transpiring made everything seem like a blur.

Both Tang Jin and Thomas Reave floated in a sea of blue, black, and gold, neither one any more real than the other. The life he left behind was like a dream, and the dream he lived now seemed too surreal to be true, and yet for the last four years he'd been there, living as he thought he should, only in this last year did he see some purpose other than to live by a fate he was borne with.

Thomas had almost forgotten what it was like to be him, and Tang Jin never got to be the kid he could've been, but in that space-less timeless span, they were there, maybe as one, maybe as each other. Then in a moment most bizarre, Tang Jin opened his eyes, hammer in hand and so did Thomas, wearing his crown. One boy with a head of gold and a young man with black met eye to eye.

"Hi, Thomas," said Jin.

"Hi, me," said Thomas.

The two stared at each other for the longest time. There was no need for words as their thoughts were not shared, but as one. But for argument's sake, they still chose to speak, if only for the novelty.

"So, does that mean we're dead now?" asked Jin.

"I'm not really sure," said Thomas.

"You wrote the Crown, you should know."

"That's 'we,' Jin. We wrote the crown. Well, I as in we."

"Seriously though, are we dead?"

"Trippy, eh? But again, I don't really know."

"Well if you don't, then neither would I." Jin hesitated for a moment. "But I guess this means we were originally separate people?"

"If the spirit is the manifestation of the soul and we have two merged as one, then I'd say yes."

"What about twin spirits?"

"Those guys probably didn't know about any soul hijinks like we do."

"That doesn't really explain anything."

"What's separating the soul from its knowledge?"

"The brain?"

"I'm speaking theoretically here."

"That's avoiding the question."

"But it's as good an answer as we'll get."

A moment of silence passed, but a moment was only as relative as its perception, and in a space where time was uncertain, any length of time was just as valid to qualify as a 'moment.'

"If this is the afterlife then it's a little underwhelming," said Jin.

"Heh, dying gets overrated," said Thomas. "See it once and you've seen it all."

More time passed, then a throbbing began. Thomas and Jin both put on baffled looks, unsure of what was happening. Maybe grandpa found a way to save me? Maybe I really am dead now? I waited as the pulses happened faster and faster and settled to a steady beat: one-two, one-two.

The beating became louder, and there came a jolt that brought everything together.

I opened my eyes and met the gaze of a boy with dark blue eyes and hair.

"Hello, cousin Jin," he said.

He kept moving his hands around my body, a gentle and familiar energy coursing through the major blood vessels and lymph nodes then trailing down the spine and spreading through the major organs before settling into by the belly.

"Hgkk," my mouth was too dry to form words. Everyone besides me and auntie Yuehua had black hair, and ours were due to our spirits—so to call himself my cousin would either mean he had a variant or was a part of the outer sect.

"You've been sleeping for three days," the boy said. "You shouldn't try to speak for now."

I operated my Inventory and willed the pouch of Dragon Zoysia leaves to on top of my chest and opened my mouth.

The boy picked up the pouch and opened it, eyes widening. "You wish me to feed you some?"

I nodded.

He obliged and put a leaf to my tongue, and I willed my Domain to feed on the leaf, its calming energy coloring my numb spirit power in a gentle green.

His eyes widened again, "Dragon Zoysia does not take effect that fast. But when you get better, I hope little brother will be kind enough to teach me."

My cousin kept circulating my spirit power, and the path it took was unlike what grandpa Shan did for me before. In a minute or so, some of the numbness faded enough for me to ask for water. Just then, the door opened and in came a girl with a braid reaching her hips, she, like this boy looked easy on the eyes as well as had flawless skin to a degree only spirit masters could have.

"Ge, it's good that your cousin has already gained consciousness," she said with a smile. Guess I had two cousins then.

The red areas displayed in Interface were within acceptable levels by now. "My grandpa," I said with a rasp. "Is he alright?"

"Yes," my cousin said, his smile turned wry. "Though he's reluctant to come see you."

I wanted to sigh but couldn't. "Is he mad?"

He shook his head and said, "It would be easier to ask him yourself."

I tried sitting up, and found it easier than earlier. "Where is he?"

My cousin raised an eyebrow, but kept circulating my energy anyway. "He's just outside."

"Should I call for him?" my other cousin said.

I nodded. "Please, cousin."

She stepped out for a bit then in came grandpa with bloodshot eyes.

"Little Jin!" he was crying his eyes out. "Grandpa was very foolish," he said, his pained expression breaking in sporadic spasms. "Oh, little Jin, please don't scare me like that ever again." He grabbed onto me and held me tight, and I hugged him back.

Memories from that strange dream-state came back, and whether I was Tang Jin or Thomas Reave or some mix of the two, none of that mattered now. Here was my family—my new family, crying in front of me. "I'm sorry too grandpa," I said. "This foolish grandson of yours will no longer take any shortcuts with his future, so please, you were not at fault here at all."

He eventually settled down enough to let go of me, after which he straightened up his robes. "Not my fault my farts," he said. "You little rascal, you almost gave me a heart attack!" He hugged me in a tight but gentle embrace, almost desperate. "I had to rush us over to Yu Xiaogang in a panic and left those two uncles alone in the woods."

"Huh. We're here?" Well color me surprised.

"It was only a stroke of luck your cousin Tang San here had some way to dispel that energy." Grandpa's brash nature rekindled with each word, bringing back the grandpa I'd come to know and love.

"Wait, what?"

"What do you mean what?" grandpa said. "There's nothing unclear about that, here is your cousin Tang San." He gestured at my blue-haired cousin, who waved at me with a reserved manner.

"Ah," I said. Fine. Sure, Tang San was my cousin. Let's just roll with it. "And sister is?" I looked at the girl who called my cousin as her brother.

She puffed out her chest. "Big sister here is called Xiao Wu, as in Wu of dancing."


	8. Chapter 8

Xiao Wu just now gave me a cup of tea, and Tang San resumed his kneading of my back, his energy tracing the same paths from earlier.

Grandpa cleared his throat and said, "I'll call for grandmaster first, I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

Without much choice, I sat there and just took everything in stride. Tang San was my cousin. That was a big enough thing, but to think this genius could save me as well, and how I might add, I didn't know. Luck, perhaps? Or maybe it was because he had the same spirit as what I'd devoured before?

But all that came out was, "Thank you, cousin San." I would've bowed if I could but he was behind me, I owed the guy my life after all.

"It's no matter between family," he said, not stopping his massaging and whatnot.

"That's very noble of you," I said. It was something I didn't come to expect of others, both now and back then. The few people I'd interacted enough with were family, and the rest were all merchants who like me had motives of each other. But here, by all accounts was a stranger. And to be in their home and getting nursed, no less.

"Be at ease cousin," he said. "I speak the truth." He tapped specific points along my back, and the energy gathered there in clumps moving against a mass, as if pushing through.

The door opened and in came grandpa together with a sharp looking man with graying hair. His robes were of a fine cut, though already tattered and old, but the bearing behind his gait spoke volumes of his character.

Tang San bowed to him, and said, "You have returned, teacher."

Our eyes met. "You must be Yu Xiaogang," I said.

He nodded. "Indeed, I am."

I bowed, and said, "Thank you for your kindness."

His expression softened somewhat, but the stern gaze remained. "Who am I to turn away someone who wishes to learn?"

"Grandpa has already told you?"

A light played in his eyes. "He has told me more than that."

Tang San finished his massaging, and after the numbness subsided, a clean and taut feeling remained in my body—like I'd just woken up to a fully warmed up state, ready to spring at any moment.

"It is done, teacher." Tang san then bowed to grandpa Shan. "Cousin Jin should be alright now, though I'm surprised to see a person I could only call blessed by the heavens." He had on a wry smile.

I raised an eyebrow at grandpa Shan. "Is this because of my spirit ring?"

"No," Yu Xiaogang said, "rather, it is because of the reason you came here, and the circumstance you brought with you."

I felt taller, somehow. "That saves us a lot of time then," I said, smiling at the people there. "Someone mind getting me up to speed?"

Yu Xiaogang's eyes took on a sharp light. "You were a bloody mess when you came here, and your grandpa came in with tears streaming down his face, begging us to help him do something."

I looked at grandpa who looked away. "This rascal actually made this old man beg," he said. But there was no catch in the way he said it, and good lord that was really stupid of me.

"I'm still young," I said, "I'm entitled to be stupid." I chuckled at my own expense.

"You were a fool," said Xiaogang, his voice ragged and harsh. "You were arrogant and selfish as well."

"I know," I said, staring at him, while Tang San and Xiao Wu frowned.

"As expected of a little master," she said with a sigh, but Tang San chastised her with a shake of his head.

"I had to watch him grow up," added grandpa Shan. I pouted at him. "What? You can't blame this old man for having a few tender feelings."

"Fine," I said, then dropped the jovial tone in my bantering, "how bad was it?"

Xiaogang tilted his head side to side. "It wasn't as bad as I initially thought."

"Hence, my calling you blessed," said Tang San. "Your spirit power was all over the place, and you had an amazing amount of spirit force but so little strength in your body."

"I feel amazing though," I said, gathering spirit power in my hands when I noticed the staggering twenty in Interface. Grandpa rolled his eyes and Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "And I'm at the twentieth rank already."

"You are?!" said grandpa Shan, his eyes wide with surprise.

"A genius among geniuses," said Xiaogang, unfazed. "But you have a fatal flaw."

"My body isn't as strong as my spirit," I said, repeating what cousin San said just now.

"Yes," Xiaogang said. "But it is within reason seeing how young you still are." Grandpa and I nodded. "But I wouldn't advise you to get your next ring just yet." He looked hard into my eyes.

"I don't really mind, but then what would I do instead?"

"Just bring out your spirits," he said.

I did as he ordered and summoned my Crown and Hammer, my one ring floating behind me. "As requested," I said.

"Will your ring forward so I can see," said Xiaogang.

I did, and when it floated next to him, Tang San was taken aback.

"This ring is half purple!" Tang San said.

"Huh?" grandpa Shan said.

"This is new to me too," I said.

"This is an unprecedented case," said Xiaogang. "You've completely breached my own theoretical understanding of the limits of cultivation for a first ring." He nodded. "Little San, please bring yours out as well."

Tang san nodded, and stretched out his left hand, blue light surging from it as a tuft of Blue Silver Grass appeared, a single yellow ring floating behind him.

"Then your other," said Xiaogang.

"Twin spirits then," I said. "That makes more sense."

"You're taking this rather well," he said.

I shrugged. "I've done my reading on them, and cousin San was rumored to have awakened with full innate spirit power."

Tang San nodded, and black light surged out of his right hand, that overbearing Hammer appearing after the light condensed.

"But he can only bring one out at a time," I said.

Yu Xiaogang smiled a bit. "Indeed, worthy of being hailed a genius," he said. "So now we come to your situation, you can have both your spirits out at the same time, but never has it happened before in record. And given the three other known cases of twin spirits, all of them could only bring one out at a time." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Which means my conjecture is right," I said. "And that I have merged spirits." He nodded, and Tang San dispelled his Hammer.

"But to call it merged is to cast it in stone," Xiaogang added, "at best we still only have an educated guess."

"But it's the best we have," I said. "And the matter of not getting my next spirit ring?"

"Your grandfather told me you only reached the twelfth rank on getting your exceptional ring." He gestured at Tang San. "But little San here managed to achieve the eleventh with a four-hundred-year ring."

"That doesn't sound strange to me."

"But the limit for absorption of the second ring is only at seven hundred years."

"So, it's as close to saying I absorbed a thousand for my first?"

"That," Xiaogang raised an eyebrow, the same light from earlier flashing in the. "Or four hundred and fifty for each of your spirits."

"Oh, that makes sense," I said. "Okay, I never considered that before."

Grandpa met my eyes and nodded as well. "Going here was right after all."

"Thank you." Xiaogang cleared his throat. "But again, in terms of the quality of the ring you absorbed, it still falls short." He raised a finger. "Which leads me to suspect this cultivation of yours." He put up another finger and pointed at my ring.

"Your grandfather told me you have your own cultivation pathway, could you show me?"

"Alright," I said.

"May I also observe?" Tang San said.

"If he goes, I go too," Xiao Wu said.

I shrugged and presented them my back. "This might feel a little strange." I opened my Domain and Pranus Core, making sure to remove them from my power's effect as much as I could, and bathed the small office in golden light.

"This is a domain?" said Xiaogang. "You actually have a domain!"

"Is it that impressive?" I asked.

Tang San shook his head. "The frog in the well really knows not how large the ocean is."

"No one else in our sect can compare to him," grandpa said. "And he only has us old geezers to play with, little San. He really knows nothing of the outside world."

"Yes, little Jin, it is impressive," Xiaogang said. "Now proceed with the demonstration."

I closed my eyes and felt some threads of power connect with me, one was a cool and refreshing blue, another a dull yellow, and the last a fiery red—it reminded me of what happened in the forest. I shook it off and did as asked, taking in the energy of the universe through my Domain and passing it through Pranus Core before filling each chakra up, spinning for a while then entering my Crown. We stayed like that for a minute or so until I stopped.

"Your cultivation method makes no sense," said Xiaogang. "You concentrate your spirit power into your spirit?"

"Yes," I said.

"At least now we know why your body's so weak," Tang San said.

"The soul is analogous to the spirit," I said, "isn't that right?"

"You're not wrong," Xiaogang said, stroking his chin.

"And I'm also still higher in cultivation than these two," I pointed at Tang San and Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu grunted, and Tang San remained indifferent.

"Cultivation isn't everything, little Jin," said Xiaogang. "A spirit master's foundation matters just as much. To believe numbers are all that matter in a fight is naïve."

Grandpa groaned by the side.

"Perhaps junior and I can exchange pointers?" Tang San said with a smile. "I've never fought anyone other than Xiao Wu who's had a higher rank than me before."

"Then Xiao Wu Jie can also teach junior a thing or two," Xiao Wu said with the sweetest smile.

"Aren't I still injured?" There were no indicators in Interface saying anything was wrong. As far as I was concerned, I was as fit as a fiddle.

"You'll be just fine," said Xiao Wu.

We were out the door faster than I could complain, with Xiao Wu nearly prodding me with a stick all the way as Yu Xiaogang led us to an away clearing in the forest near the academy. It was just a small patch of dirt about ten meters all around, enough for a fight between kids—and much smaller than our courtyard back home.

"Feel free to cut loose here," Xiaogang said. "Your grandpa is more than sufficient to ensure nothing happens to any of you."

Grandpa nodded. "I'll be sure to step in if any of you are about to get hurt."

Tang San stepped up first. "I trust grandpa won't take sides in this matter?"

"You are both my precious grandchildren," he said. "But I also enjoy seeing little Jin get his butt handed to him."

Xiao Wu looked at grandpa funny. "Ge, are you sure your family is right in the head?"

Tang San didn't answer her.

"Am I limited to only one ability?" I asked.

"Do you think you should be?" asked Xiaogang.

"It'd be like facing two spirit masters for the person to fight me."

"Are you confident then to face me and brother together?" said Xiao Wu with hands akimbo.

"I'm a genius, not a miracle worker," I said. "But if I do beat you both, then wouldn't junior be really cool?" I laughed in my haughtiest manner.

Tang San smiled wryly at that. "I don't mind, if Xiao Wu is alright with it and if you agree, but don't go complaining if after we defeat you."

"I give you my word," I said, raising my hand.

Xiao Wu stepped into the clearing with a fierce smile. "Junior truly is annoying," she said, "Xiao Wu Jie of Nuoding Elementary Academy, Soft-boned Rabbit, nineteenth rank battle spirit master." She bowed and released her ring, a brilliant yellow as her ears elongated and got covered in fluffy white fur, and a pink sheen glowed from her skin.

I turned to the two seniors. "I'm starting to regret what I said just now," I said.

Grandpa Shan started laughing at the sides. "Too late now, you little rascal!"

Tang San also released his spirit, blue rays of light shining in layers around his body as a single yellow ring floated upwards and his hair became translucent. "Tang San, Blue Silver Grass, nineteenth rank control system spirit master." He bowed as well.

I sighed and released both of mine, Crown and Hammer shining in gold and black together, one rested on my head, the other in my hand as the world shifted into one of distinct clarity. "Tang Jin, Clear Sky Hammer and Amber Crown, twentieth rank control and power attack system spirit master." My spirit ring floated into view, half-yellow and half-purple.

A breeze blew past, and I met Tang San and Xiao Wu's eyes.

"Begin," said grandpa with a smile.

Xiao Wu rushed in, her long legs moving with fluid grace as she closed the distance between us. Right behind her was Tang San with his grass already wrapped around his arm. As a control system, Tang San's grass most likely ensnares targets, while Xiao Wu as a rabbit might do kicks and jumps.

My ring shone and from my body extended a pillar of gold light. "First ring, Devour, takes spirit power or life force from anything caught in the light and gives it to me."

The light then settled on Xiao Wu and she winced from the first contact.

"Junior has such a devious ability," she said, then jumped about left and right, my gold light chasing her fleeting form.

She was much faster than my light could track—okay, yeah, that sucked ass. When she came within half a meter, she whipped out her head, braided hair trailing behind and it went straight for my outstretched hand. I willed my Hammer into my left hand and its aura prevented her snare. At the same time, a line of blue shot towards my right hand, and I avoided it with a quick twist of my body.

When I regained my balance, a pair of slender and soft calves squeezed my head.

"Waist bow," said Xiao Wu, she was standing with her hands. "Increases core strength by a hundred percent, and by another percent for each rank above ten."

Then she fucking flipped, throwing me face first into Tang San.

Tang San jumped, lines of blue again coming towards me, but I wrapped myself in Devour and set it to absorb at its hardest. When his grass touched my skin, a slight numbing set in, but the grass became brittle fast enough and I was able to break it off.

The two had me surrounded, but with the exchange just now, they had nothing strong enough between them to really put the pain on me. Like I guessed, Tang San has that grass binding for his first ability while Xiao Wu has Waist Bow, as long as I can disable one of them it'd be my win. I concentrated spirit power into my Hammer and charged at Tang San.

He took a stance to receive.

I stopped my charge. "Huh?"

Tang San looked at me funny. Then I threw my hammer at him covered in that black light. The beauty of Devour was that it barely cost me any spirit power to maintain, so I could have my little bit of insurance on for as long as I need, and it gave me back spirit power too.

The same braid of hair appeared in my vision and I dropped like a rock towards the source. Tang San's eyes widened as I fell while he dodged and let my Hammer pass him. Then I recalled it to my right hand and smashed it down backhand into Xiao Wu. The flexibility of a body under ten years of age was impeccable, then a jolt shot me away from my last dance partner.

I skipped back to the clearing's edge, putting Tang San and Xiao Wu back in front.

"Are you alright, Xiao Wu?" asked Tang San.

"I'm alright brother," she said with a feral smile.

Xiao Wu charged again, this time with Tang San by her right flank, but his movements were… odd, I'd expect him to step one way but he'd do so in another direction the moment I think I had him. And he was a bit faster than Xiao Wu, a battle spirit master with an agile spirit. His movements were too peculiar to not be deliberate.

I charged at Xiao Wu, Hammer in hand and covered in my golden light. She again whipped out her braid, but this time I was prepared and pulled hard—but a coat of grass bound my leg and pulled me in just as hard. Hurtling towards Tang San, I charged my black light even more, pumping weight into the Hammer. I expanded Devour forward in a cone, enveloping the two and they both winced under that gold light. My spirit power started trickling back, getting replenished in place of their own.

They were the ones pressed for offense since I could replenish my spirit power in battle, and attrition was another of my possible tactics.

Tang San picked up some rocks. "Junior truly is a genius to repel us so much. I am honored to face such an opponent."

I pushed Devour towards them in a longer and wider cone, and charged forward. My Hammer was enough to threaten Xiao Wu, and any attempts to trap me from either side would be met with an extra focused Devour.

"Left shoulder," said Tang San, and a shadow flew straight to between my eyes.

I swung my head clear but that stone changed trajectory and bent into where Tang San said it would hit. The strike stung, but didn't do any real damage. "So, we're free to use whatever means?"

"Just the things around us," Tang San said with a smile.

"Good," I said, and charged as much weight as I could into the Hammer.

"Right wrist, left elbow, right knee," Tang San said, three shadows flying.

I stood my ground. Perhaps he read my reactions ahead? The three stones bent into different paths and all hit true where he said. "That throwing technique makes no sense either!" I smashed my Hammer down and kicked up a large cloud of dust. I retracted expanded Devour into a wide bubble and bathed everything in gold. If he could turn this into a backyard brawl, then so could I. I willed a clump of dirt into my Inventory.

"Forehead," said Tang San, and a shadow flew straight for my head.

Him being able to see through the screen wasn't all that surprising given he could throw shit that bent the fucking laws of physics. I willed the clump of dirt to appear right over Tang San's eyes, and he seemed to scramble—within my Domain, I sensed all. I charged after Xiao Wu, Devour eating in a wide berth to block her from finding me. But then in came a flurry of stones, hitting me in my limbs and shoulders and hips. This was getting annoying. I charged after them, reinforcing my body with as much spirit power as I could and ignored those flying stones. A steady trickle came in from Devour, meaning they were still within my range.

I neared the two, and more grass sprouted from my feet, binding me for a second but they crumbled soon enough. Then in came Xiao Wu and Tang San together, he had his Hammer out as well. I concentrated Devour onto the two of them, focusing its effect.

"Black Wasp Bullet," I said. "Take care." My ring shone again, and black light surged from my Hammer, forming a bolt. I swung at the bolt and it flew towards them.

Tang San dodged, and I recovered my swing to leverage the force, producing another black bolt and hitting it—this one flying faster than the first. Tang San dodged again but Xiao Wu was almost caught. Another recovery formed into a strike and another bullet thundered towards them.

"Disorder Splitting Wind can be used this way?" Tang San said.

The last bolt grazed Xiao Wu, Devour anticipating where they'd dodge and eating at their spirit powers. Bolt after bolt flew towards them, flying faster and faster each. Tang San had no problems dodging, but he was also pulling Xiao Wu here and there.

After the fifteenth bolt, I stopped and fell flat on my back breathing hard. "I'm out of spirit power," I squeezed out.

Xiao Wu also fell on her butt and Tang San wiped off the sweat from his brows.

Grandpa Shan and Yu Xiaogang walked into the clearing, both with satisfied looks.

"I stand by what I said," Xiaogang said, "but I must recognize your talent."

"Thank you," I said, "and I stand by what I said too. Though this is completely contrary to what I was saying back at the sect, but in the face of overwhelming power, technique can only do so much." I stood myself up. "But until I get there, techniques are the way to go."

I walked over to Tang San and Xiao Wu but the two were already recovering themselves.

"Big sister Wu and big brother San, junior really enjoyed exchanging pointers with you," I said with a bow. Which wasn't a lie. These two gave me a run for my money, even if I technically had the advantage. But still, a giddy feeling welled up from within. That was still two nineteenth ranked spirit masters I fought.

The two shared a look and bowed as well.

"Such a crafty junior," Xiao Wu said, "to hide your second ability like that until the end."

"Thank you as well for letting me see the practicality of the Disorder Splitting Wind method," said Tang San.

We returned to Yu Xiaogang's office after that, and ate a rich dinner—or at least as rich as we could get in such a small city—then retired our separate ways. Xiaogang and the two other students back in their dorm, and me and grandpa in a hotel. We were expecting uncles Zhi and Hu to catch up in another two days.

The following morning, grandpa brought me up to speed with what had transpired with Tang San.

"Little Jin," he said, "Tang San is the son of your uncle, Tang Hao."

Yeah, that made even more sense now. "That explains a lot."

Then his eyes went red again, and he said, "But to think our Clear Sky Douluo was reduced to a man spending every day in a drunken grief, this is too much for this old man to bear." He breathed hard. "Little Hao has already lost so much, and the support of the sect on top of that and the right to pay respect to his father, it's too cruel."

"How _did_ uncle Hao get exiled?" I said. "I know the general story, but what else is there?"

"Little Jin," grandpa said, "I shouldn't tell you any of this until you are much older, but grandpa trusts you, so be very careful with how you use this information."

Grandpa spared nothing. Uncle Hao's wife was named Ah Yin, and she travelled together with my father as well when they were still younger. Together, the three of them made waves in the spirit master world. Uncle Hao and Ah Yin eventually found love with each other, and father found it elsewhere. The news of what transpired after they parted would later come with my uncle after the fact. Ah Yin was a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast who'd chosen to become human, and it was also thanks to her that he reached the Titled Douluo realm. Spirit Hall came for her, and uncle Hao naturally retaliated, and after that he came to the sect to ask for help, but the council of elders then—led by his own father, said no, thus leading to the in-hiding state of the sect now, and the tragedy that befell my uncle's family. From the council then, grandpas Shan and Lin were the ones in favor of rallying behind uncle, while grandpas Bai, Huang, and Guo were against it.

At the end of the story, grandpa excused himself to be alone for a while, and I… just had a lot dumped on my plate.

I wandered around Nuoding city after leaving a message with grandpa that I'll be out for a bit, and eventually found myself back in Yu Xiaogang's office.

"Greetings to cousin's teacher," I said.

"Please be at ease, little Jin," he said. "There are no strangers here."

"I… need to ask you of something," I said.

"Don't you think favors are a little too early into things?"

"No, not a favor." I shook my head. "Just information."

He raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"I'd like to know what you know of hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts… and how a certain manual reached our sect's hands." I willed the training manual uncle Zhang gave me when I started practicing with them into my hands. I passed him the theorem he wrote all those years ago.

"These ten core spirit principles of yours is the reason the Clear Sky sect survives until now," I said. "And I also owe you a great deal with my cultivation." I bowed low to him.

His eyes became watery but he stayed composed. "Thank you, little Jin." He sat down and told me to do the same. "Your uncle Hao asked for a copy of it from me almost twenty ago."

"And it's been put to good use ever since," I said. "Your theories are also what lead me to seek you out for my condition, and you truly shed some light on my predicament."

"And why the curiousity about hundred-thousand-year beasts?"

"Because my aunt was one, and Spirit Hall at least deserves to pay some reparations."

"I see," he said, "and does little San know of this?"

"I only came to know just now," I said. "I leave this information to you to decide with, to me, it doesn't matter." Then I smiled wryly at him. "This complicates my dreams of obtaining a hundred-thousand-year ring though." And my general understanding of spirit beasts in general—since it means I'm killing potentially sentient beings every time. …wait, so those grasses?"

"You look a little pale," he said.

"Don't mind me, just a bad memory."

He sighed and said, "From what I know, hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts are able to choose to become human or to continue as beasts, with the cost that they are only able to live for another thousand years."

I raised my hand, and he knit his brows. "Err, yes?"

"I'd assume a million years is the next stage, but why stop at a thousand?"'

"That's at least what the legends and records we've recovered from whatever ruins we could get said." Then his eyes regained that sharpness. "And I agree with your conjecture."

"Great minds think alike," I said.

"And besides the ring, those formidable beasts are also guaranteed to grant two abilities, as well as a spirit bone that would also contain two abilities."

I sighed and shook my head. "No wonder Spirit Hall wanted her so much."

"Would you tell me her name?"

"I want to, but I think that revelation should be for uncle Hao to explain."

"Then I defer to your wisdom," Xiaogang said with a slight bow.

We shared a solemn chuckle.

Then he said, "And what are your plans now? I trust you'll follow my instruction to wait before getting your next ring?"

I nodded. "I agree, my rising in ranks too fast led to some… unecessary troubles, and I also need to learn how to properly cultivate."

"Actually," Xiaogang said, "your cultivation method is not bad, just incomplete."

"Well, if you say so, then I'll work on completing it, and I'll be sure to document everything and pass it all to you."

He seemed taken aback. "What for?"

"I've felt the spirit power of a lot of people before, uncle Xiaogang. And I know you cannot be higher than the thirtieth rank, which leads me to believe you can't. Then perhaps an alternative method might help? One that allows you to cultivate your spirit directly?"

He nodded. "You have a way with words, little Jin."

"And I and my sect owe you a great deal," I said. "And when cousin San needs our help, I'll be sure to bring my other grandpa when he needs his next ring."

He raised an eyebrow.

"And of course, I won't invite you into the sect," I said. "Maybe as a guest but not as a member for sure."

He let out a breath of relief.

"That doesn't mean I can't commission you for some lessons though, maybe hire you as a part-time instructor?"

He smiled and shook his head. "The offer is flattering, little Jin, but this old grandmaster still would prefer to teach his dear disciple."

"And what if you gained another?"


	9. Chapter 9

Yu Xiaogang smiled at the question and shook his head before saying, "Please, little Jin, we both know the only person you'll ever call master is yourself."

I was about to say something but stopped. He wasn't wrong with what he said, but that… wasn't an answer I expected. I took a breath before saying, "Perhaps I came on too strong?"

He smiled something warm, eyes betraying a softness I only now saw. "Worry not, Jin. I saw your sincerity," he said, "but you wouldn't have told me what you did unless you saw me as an equal."

I smiled and let out a deflated huff. "I meant what I said though."

"I know," he said. "But instead of that, why don't you just come clean?"

I frowned. "I'm sorry?"

He half smirked. "You've never had much in the way of friends now, have you?"

I shrugged. "I've always found it" —because I'd never say exasperating— "difficult to talk to others my age. It's why I've always preferred the company of myself when my elders weren't there."

Xiaogang brought his hands together, fingers intertwining and sighed. "I've noticed."

He stood from his chair and walked over to the bookshelves, as deft hands browsed the different spines and pulled something thin out of the row. He then went back and opened the book in front of me.

"This," he said, eyes somewhere lost. "This is the same manual you have in your sect, my Ten Core Spirit Principles."

I leaned in closer to get a better look, everything there was hand-written and already fading. "This is the original then?" I said.

He nodded. "It took me the better part of a decade to compile all I could find." He met my eyes. "But I didn't—couldn't do it alone."

I nodded. "People can only do so much after all."

He sighed and said, "I'm glad you can say that, but do you believe it?"

"Of course," I said. "I would have died if it wasn't for Tang San, and neither would I have had such a good fortune with getting such a good spirit ring without my grandpas." I wasn't sure where this was coming from, but he surely had his reasons.

He closed the book with reverence before setting it to the side. "Jin," he said. "I find you extremely peculiar."

I tilted my head at him. "I doubt you meet many four-year-olds who can keep up with your theories."

He chuckled at that. "No. No, I don't, but I don't meet many my age either who can."

I crossed my arms and sat back in my chair. "Most of the people I'd met think with their fists." That brat from the Seven Treasure clan and old man especially, though there's also Spirit Hall and my own sect.

"In a way I can agree," he said. "But at times, action is all that's left, is it not?"

Tongue-in-cheek, I said, "I agree, but only as a last resort. Petty arguments need not escalate to murder, and grave matters don't necessarily lead to bloodshed."

He raised an eyebrow. "But isn't one's honor more important than one's life?"

I stared hard at him. "I agree that honor is important, but not to the point of taking life to prove a point."

"And yet there are sins you cannot forgive," he said.

"Yes," I said. "I am only human after all."

He smiled. "Don't you think that's hypocritical?"

"No," I said. "I don't necessarily need to kill to get what I want. And in a world where the rule of law… isn't enough to restrain those who are able to mete out peerless violence, then only an equally potent force can make them stay their hand."

"And what if they choose violence regardless?"

"Then I make damn sure I win."

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Then he said, "What if you can't?"

I huffed and said, "Then there are two ways to proceed from there." I raised a finger. "One, is to stay your moral ground and demand anyway." I raised another. "And two, is to submit for now and take vengeance later."

Xiaogang sat back in his chair. "So simple…" he said. He closed his eyes for a bit and took a deep breath. "Perhaps, I'd forgotten what it was like to be young." His eyes trailed towards to that far-off place again. "And of course, as someone who never reached above the thirtieth rank, change was something I could only dream of inciting."

"People always have a reason for the things they do," I said. "It's just that sometimes we can't agree to their 'why.' But on a fundamental question of did they do anything wrong?" I shrugged. "If they made sense to themselves, then I'd say they were in the right from a certain perspective."

His eyes revealed a shine. "And what then is the mandate of heaven?"

"The mandate of heaven is an easily twisted message in the clouds," I said. "It's only as good as the claim any one person makes, and even then, it's not really anything but an excuse to justify a cause."

He chuckled again. "Such a cynical view for one so young."

I smiled and said, "You learn to adapt when your sect has a bone to pick with Spirit Hall." I stuck out my chest. "And for the wrong done to my family, I'd demand for them to make a contrite apology for it, but not necessarily destroy them and grind their corpses into dust."

He raised an eyebrow.

"After I make sure I've already won the battle before it even starts, that is."

He smiled.

I leaned in closer and said, "So, what then pains you so?"

A small pause, then he shook his head. There was no surprise in his eyes. "I may trust you somewhat, little Jin, but one does not journey a thousand miles without passing the first ten."

"I understand," I said, and stood from the chair. "But just in case, I'm here anytime you need someone to listen." I moved towards the door and opened it, half-way. "As a friend."

We said our goodbyes then and I went back to my roaming.

I went to the market to clear my head, and bought a few things to replenish the supplies I used on our way here. Nuoding city wasn't much compared to the capital, but in terms of produce it was the best. I went through all the shops I could: tailors, diners, bakeries, then eventually found myself in front of a smithy.

I went in, hoping to ask how much it would cost to have my iron chunks forged into steel, and found there was no front desk or any sort of receiving area—so I headed in without a second thought.

Heat was what greeted me first, air stifling heat that made it difficult to breath. The smithy was filled with the scent of wet iron and burning slag, a bit of a mix between burning rubber, fresh asphalt, and scratched rust. It was a smell I remembered from the auto shop my dad would take our car to for repairs—an unexpected reminder of home.

I was turning five soon enough, and so much had happened these first few years of life.

I tried cycling spirit power to see if it would help—and the strain in my lungs and breathing alleviated. The process made no sense, but it helped. What the hell is spirit power anyway? Still, a lesson learned at least.

The people here were all either smashing away at a chunk of metal, operating some large bellows, or holding onto a gleaming red piece of metal for the first two to work on. No one even paid attention to the kid in the obviously dangerous environment.

It was strange, so the first person I saw, I talked to, "Hello."

"Good day, customer," he said.

I didn't know whether to be flattered or surprised at getting called that when literally everywhere else I'd been to called me boy or little master. "Uhh, is there anyone I can talk to for a quotation?"

The man nodded before saying, "You'll want to talk to Shi San for that." He pointed to a big burly man hammering away at a chunk of ore almost as big as my torso. It was a horribly inefficient way to work metal—but then what did I know about a fantasy world? My knowledge of modern day manufacturing doesn't mean it's the only way to do things.

I bowed and said, "Thank you, kind senior."

The man bowed back and resumed what I figured to be rest. Then I went up to Shi San, not really sure what to expect.

He saw me and stopped his hammering, "May I help you?"

Again, something unexpected. "Hello, I was told to talk to Shi San for any quotations?"

"I am he," he said. His eyes held no trace of either wonder or spurn. "What business did you have in mind?"

No 'little master' or 'where are your parents?' "I was hoping to purchase refined steel from you," I said. "And depending on the quality, I am willing to pay you with high quality iron to buffer and difference my money can't fill."

He nodded, then motioned for me to come with him. We passed through a small out of the way hall and into a room that was a lot hotter than the earlier area, and there were also some large bellows here being operated by two people, and behind them both was a large anvil where continuous hammering sounded out.

"Tang San," said Shi San, and all at once everything made sense.

The hammering stopped, and my cousin walked over to us with a pleasant smile. I waved a hand at him and he smiled something wider back.

"You two know each other?" Shi San said.

I scratched my head. "Well," I said, "he's my cousin."

"That makes sense," Shi San said. "Your cousin here… err?"

"Jin," I supplied.

Shi San nodded before continuing, "Your cousin Jin here wanted to talk about buying steel."

A flash of surprise colored Tang San's eyes. "I'll take care of this, uncle San," he said.

We left the bellows area and went into a small room with a just as small desk by an open window.

"Please take a seat, cousin Jin," he said.

I did and said, "I'm surprised you don't have big sister Wu with you right now."

A small laugh escaped him. "Our supreme sister Xiao Wu Jie needs to maintain order in her territory," he said. "So, I hear you'd like to buy steel?"

I nodded. "I was hoping to get enough for a project I had planned," I said. "Though my biggest problem right now is how to shape it after."

He nodded to that as well. "How big of a project are we talking about?"

"Enough to modify a large carriage," I said. "I have some ideas I want to try, and if it works, then I think I can make a sizeable fortune from it."

"Around how much do you think you need?"

"Somewhere upwards of a thousand jin of steel?"

He pursed his lips, then opened his mouth, closed it again, grumbled somewhat, then said, "Are you planning on outfitting this carriage for war somehow?" His eyes and brows were twisted into a quizzical knot.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was used for that after," I said, "but no. I have a plan to make carriage rides as comfortable as possible. This first order of steel is to account for any errors I make, but to make a sustainable model I can sell to the people must make use of either a quarter to a third of that amount. Less if possible."

"I see," he said. "Please don't be surprised when I say it would take upwards of one hundred gold coins."

I shrugged. "Would the price change if I supplied my own iron?"

A light flashed in his eyes. "How much iron do you have?"

I willed a chunk of raw iron out of Inventory over the table. "I have around one hundred and forty jin so far."

He hefted the chunk in his hands, and said, "This is superior quality iron essence."

I didn't understand anything besides 'good metal'. "Yes," I said. "You'd be surprised how willing people are to let go of things they don't value as much."

Tang San shook his head, but his eyes never left the chunk of metal. "One man's trash is another's treasure," he said.

"If you'd like," I said—and took out a variety of metals, chunks of platinum, some crude silvers, and another of tungsten I was quite proud of identifying, from my ring. "You could also take your pick from here if it would reduce the price." Some of those metals were too few in amount to make use of besides for decoration, and he seemed to know a thing or two, so learning from what he'd take wasn't such a bad deal either.

"You also have iron mother and silver essence," he said, pointing at the tungsten and platinum respectively.

"I can try getting you more," I said. "But I can't guarantee a sure supply, those were just chunks the merchants didn't want."

He nodded while inspecting those small ores, "How much more do you have of these two?"

"I have fifteen jin of the iron mother and twenty-seven of the silver essence," I said. I had double that, but nobody needs to give out all their secrets all at once.

"I'd like to buy all you have of them," he said. "I'm willing to pay twenty silver per jin of the iron mother and fifty for the silver essence."

Those were just above market value, and reasonable enough to turn a profit with. "I'm willing to give you the silver essence for free if you tell me what you want so much of it for."

Tang San smiled, and an energy filled his eyes, but a breath later it disappeared. "I have my own projects," he said. "And I need these both for it."

I raised an eyebrow. To ask for so much platinum and tungsten was anything but normal. "The iron mother is simple enough, it's harder and heavier than normal iron," I said, "but I don't understand what the silver essence is for, is it because it doesn't tarnish?"

He narrowed his eyes just a tiny bit and said, "I simply wish to make sure to only use the best materials."

That was too obvious a lie. None of the merchants or smiths I'd talked to called these metals with those names. And I talked to _a lot_ of them. "Strange names, for black iron and silver iron," I said. "But if you really don't want to tell me, then consider this a sign of good faith." I willed all my tungsten and platinum to a corner of the room. "I trust you also have a storage tool?"

Tang San picked his jaw up off the floor. "I won't say no to this good fortune," he said.

I shrugged. " _Tungsten_ and _platinum_ are too difficult to work without the right tools anyway." It's been a long time since I'd ever said anything in English.

"What did you call them?" he said, blinking hard.

" _Tungsten_ and _platinum_ , you mean?"

He scrunched up his face at what I said. "Tang-si-ten?"

"Think nothing of it," I said. "Now, let's talk business."

Tang San agreed in behalf of Shi San that he'd refine the iron I provided for half his initial quote and it'd take two months to refine and temper all of it. I agreed and paid half my bill up front with my last purple jade tablet, and get back fifty gold for change. Our sect naturally had its own deep pockets, but five thousand all in all was already a lot to give to a kid—even if I were the heir of the clan.

With our business done, I then went back to wandering and decided to try my hand with the students in the academy. I went wherever I pleased—since I had Yu Xiaogang's letter of introduction, a nice favor I got off my… friend. Somehow. Weird guy, but smart. I watched the students all silently cultivating by the courtyard under the sun, and some still doing spars at a small distance away from the main buildings. What I noticed though, was that there were distinct groups—those with clean clothes, and those with ratty ones. Nobles' kids, or at least as close to them were those with the pristine white robes.

I neared one of them and bowed. "Hello there senior," I said. The boy was a good three or so inches taller than me, and maybe older by just as many years.

"Hello," he said. The rest of his buddies joined in to have a gander. "What does junior want?" He had a haughty air about him.

"I was hoping to exchange pointers with you," I said. After that fight with Tang San and Xiao Wu yesterday, I felt I needed a confidence boost, and what better way than to let off some steam on these normies.

The boy smirked. This was too easy. "Such a bold junior," he said. "But good, very good." He spread his arms as his posse formed a half-circle around us. "I'll start of lenient," he said.

I pursed my lips. "Shouldn't we introduce ourselves first at least?"

"Then I'll start," he said, "I am Xiao Chen Yu, wolf spirit, thirteenth rank battle spirit master." A single white ring rose from his feet as his arms got covered in moss colored fur.

Ah, the beauty of screwing with normies. "Oh," I said, scratching my head. "Junior regrets asking senior now."

He laughed with his chest out and hands akimbo then said, "It's alright junior, no one will laugh at you here."

"What's this happening over here?" said a sweet voice from afar.

Me and the rest of the people around me all looked to my seven o'clock, and there I saw Xiao Wu with her own little band of misfits. She had a bunch of the ratty looking students following close behind her. Our eyes met, and she smiled in a way that made me feel sorry for these idiots behind me.

"Greetings to our Xiao Wu Jie," said Xiao Chen Yu with a bow. His posse echoed his greetings and bowed after him. "This junior here asked for some pointers, so I humored him and am awaiting he show his spirit."

Xiao Wu looked at me again, her smile twitching, and nodded a bit. "Maybe he'll also want to exchange some with me later," she said.

I bowed as well and said, "I would be honored, Xiao Wu Jie. Now if I may return to our bout?"

"Carry on," she said.

"Thank you," I said, and released my Crown from my left hand and put it on. "I am" —what's a good pseudonym?— "Jet Li, Amber Crown spirit, twentieth rank control spirit master."

Xiao Chen Yu and his posse laughed with transparent disdain, oozing with mockery and pointing and whooping in my direction. When he looked at Xiao Wu and saw her smiling though—he stopped. "Junior," he said, "lying to your seniors is rude, don't you think."

I smiled back at him. "I'm not lying," I said.

"You don't even have a ring," he said, stifling his laughter.

I shined my nails against my robe. "I don't think I'd need it," I said. All these boss types just hate getting dissed in front of their lackeys, this world and the one I came from both.

"Looks like senior really needs to teach you a lesson," he said with a sigh. Xiao Chen Yu then stepped forward and his white ring glowed, filling his furred hands with more moss colored light.

I bathed in the sensation of my Crown, my visual acuity rising with the concentration of spirit power flowing into my mind.

"Prepare yourself," he said, and charged, claws and arms in front of him.

I took a stance—then it hit me: Tang San also took a stance! No one here had ever done so before—granted I'd been locked away in my sect all this time. But the few times I'd seen other spirit masters fight, none did.

When he neared me, he lashed out with both arms—like a fucking clown. It was pretty damn stupid looking, but the smile he had on was too sad to look at.

I side stepped just before he made contact—and his nearer arm gave chase, claws stretched as far as they went. I then pelted his inner elbow with a quick jab to the crook.

My strike connected knuckles first and he jolted from the hit.

"A lucky strike?" I said.

He growled and lunged again, and I stepped into his attack instead and headbutted him—dispelling my Crown before we connected.

I stepped away from him and remanifested my spirit. "Maybe next time you could try a different approach," I said.

"Junior is too cheek," he said, and still he lunged again.

I met his charge head on, his two arms lashing out, and I punched towards his face after dodging his two blows, his arms twitched and crashed to close, but I put up my elbow and his forearm hit the point of my bones.

Xiao Chen Yu then retreated from his thwarted attack, but not before taking a swipe at me as he jumped back.

Without a proper base to strike from, his attack was much weaker. I ducked into the swipe and kicked hard with a knee to his gut, but he blocked my strike by bending his arm down—it was a good attempt, but he used the outside of his forearm instead of the line of bone. He winced at the contact.

I pointed at my own forearm and said, "Never block with the soft part where the muscle cradles the bones." I then traced the line of the non-moving ulna and tapped the point nearest to the elbow. "This is the most solid part of your arm, use this to hit instead."

Xiao Chen Yu huffed and spat, then lunged at me again—so to practice what I preach, I filled my arm with spirit power and did a downward elbow strike against his leading arm—and his strike bounced back as mine thundered down and threw off his arm's trajectory.

After the hit, he clutched at his elbow and scrambled back, eyes filled with confusion. "What did you do just now?" he said, wincing.

"Like I said," I pointed at the part of my elbow. "This is the hardest part of your arm."

Xiao Wu then walked over. "Such a vicious junior," she said. "Bullying the weak like that."

"What did you say, Xiao Wu Jie?" said the boy clutching his arm. I… know I should feel guilty at doing something like that.

"He was telling the truth," she said, then her gaze turned sharp. "Why don't you show them your ring?"

I raised my hands in defeat, and willed my ring visible—as gasps came from the people watching.

"What is that?!" said Xiao Chen Yu, panic coloring his grey eyes. "Why is your ring half-purple and half-yellow?"

I scratched my head. "It's a shame that Iron Spider Wasp" —pupa— "hadn't reached the thousand-year level yet."

All eyes there glazed over and mouths hung open.

"H-how old is junior anyway?" asked Xiao Chen Yu.

"I'll be turning five in a month," I said.

After that, I exchanged pointers with a few more, but not in the same way I did with Xiao Chen Yu. I taught the ones who wanted to learn how to do basic stances, like a horse riding stance for training or a simple combat stance for sparring. I also tried to show them some walking and skipping techniques when in a stance for movement, but admittedly, I only knew Taekwondo since it was the only art I had actual training in. It felt good. And it helped wash away the bad taste from earlier. Xiao Wu left half-way though, it was understandable.

Like that the day ended and I retired to our hotel to find grandpa Shan quietly sipping tea in the room.

"Hello grandpa," I said, "feeling better now?"

"Somehow," he said. "The tea has helped somewhat, and so had the wine." He gestured to an already finished bottle.

"Not a very good example to set," I said, walking over to him to rub his back. "You sure you feel alright?"

He nodded. "Eventually, yes." He sighed. "Though it does make me wonder where little Hao is now, and what this message of his means."

I sat in front of him by the window sill. "How much did you tell Tang San anyway?"

"Enough," he said. "Enough for him to know of the pain his mother and father endured at the hands of Spirit Hall, and the lament of his sect at their loss."

Crinkling my nose and hoping against hope, I asked, "And what of uncle Hao's disowning?"

"I told him that as well," grandpa Shan said. "He deserved to know."

"And what did he say?"

Empty eyes stared out of the window and he said, "That we should then understand why he has come to hate both Spirit Hall and the sect."

It was… difficult, to see grandpa Shan so, deflated like this. "He has a right to be angry," I said, and waited a moment before continuing. "Have we sent word back to the sect yet of Tang San?"

He shook his head. "No," he said. "But I did send word you're alright now. I… don't know what to do with little San."

I fiddled with the ring on my left hand. "At the very least, we can make his life easier somehow. He'll be needing his next ring soon, maybe we can stay to help? And besides, I'll need to put off getting mine for another year anyway."

Grandpa Shan looked up. "That," he said, nodding. "That we can do."


	10. Chapter 10

We sent word back to the sect of our plans on staying here in Nuoding longer, and I got a response from father that it was alright. I was disappointed he didn't ask me to be back in time for my birthday, but we don't really do that here.

Just another one of the many cultural differences I miss, I guess.

"Little Jin!" said uncle Zhi, "good to see you're doing better." He let out a breath, and next to him uncle Hu did too.

"You sure gave us a scare," said uncle Hu.

I smiled back at them, shoulders rising. "Junior messed up," I said, "I was fortunate my grandpa" —I nudged grandpa Shan with my elbow by the ribs— "was such a responsible person."

Grandpa swatted my arm away with an annoyed but not really grin. "This rascal even made a breakthrough for all the trouble I went through." He shook his head. "I trust you two didn't encounter any problems on the road?"

Uncle Zhi shook his head, and said, "Unless you count worrying about little Jin, then no."

Uncle Hu tossed me a small pouch. "Those are Morning Dew Hornworts, they're remedies for healing damage to your foundations, but by not much, still it should help ease any pains left over."

I bowed to the two. "Uncles didn't have to spend for these?"

Grandpa Shan shook his head. "These medicinal plants can only be picked by spirit masters, and even then, they can only be found on the backs of Earth Shelled Tortoises," he said. "I'm amazed you two can confront such a beast."

Uncle Hu chuckled, his wispy mustache swaying. "With a simple offering of a few steamed buns, those stubborn spirit beasts would actually allow you to pick a few."

"We discovered it from sheer fortune a few years back," said Uncle Zhi. "And no one really believes us, so we simply carry on, it just so happened we had a reason to give you these now."

I nodded. "Then I'm glad."

I also found out grandpa Shan hadn't hired them but instead invited them into the sect as my body guards. I felt cheated then for contracting them for their lessons, but a righteous person pays their debts. I'll just get them back later somehow.

I introduced then the two newcomers to Xiaogang and my cousins, as well as my… err, followers in the school.

The kids there liked the idea of using spirit power to fight with so much they started calling me their martial master. Using spirit power not just to fuel spirit abilities was phenomenal, since even if they didn't have spirit rings yet, they still had a way to fight with. What struck me though was the over emphasis on fighting, but seeing girls and boys slug each other in the face without caring for what dongles from whom was a refreshing, albeit strange experience.

"You clean up shop well," said uncle Zhi with a whistle.

"What did you do, Jin?" said grandpa Shan, eyebrows in a knot.

"I enlightened them," I said, standing straight and proud. "Martial arts are the only true mandates of heaven." It made me cringe every time I saw them spar—or exchange pointers in their language.

Grandpa Shan shook his head but didn't say anymore.

After letting our two body guards retire for the rest of the day after their long and harried journey, grandpa and I then paid Xiaogang another visit.

"We wish to help little San get his next ring," grandpa said.

Xiaogang nodded, fingers steepled in front of him. "Little San's anger is his own," he said.

Grandpa and I nodded, then I said, "We are not doing this as an apology, but only as a sign of good will. We will not ask cousin San to rejoin the sect, but we will not reject him his due either."

Grandmaster closed his eyes and let out a breath. "I personally have no qualms against this, but I do not know if he'll accept your help."

"If he does not, then we'll at least make sure to keep you and him safe when you go to get his next ring," I said with a bow. "You cannot stop us from simply tagging along and keeping clear."

Xiaogang leaned back into his chair. "Do you get this stubbornness from your grandfather?" he said with a small smile.

"On the contrary," grandpa said, "I get mine from him."

Another week passed and Tang San finally made his breakthrough to the twentieth rank, and as the hosts—Tang San actually said yes to our offer—we then paid for a luxurious trip towards Star Dou Forest. The trip was genial to some extent, with Xiaogang providing idle chatter, though it would've been livelier if Xiao Wu had come. She said she wasn't too fond of travelling so we left her in the academy. From the looks of it though, we'd need to get her a ring soon as well.

We arrived at the same frontier city grandpa Shan and Lin took me to almost a year ago from now, and to my surprise grandpa Lin was there waiting for us.

I went out of the carriage and ran straight for grandpa Lin.

He opened his arms wide, smile just as large—then cuffed me on the head. "You idiot," he said.

"I missed you too grandpa," I said, rubbing my smarting noggin.

"I missed you too my stupid grandson," he said, he wasn't smiling though.

We retired to our room, and seeing how we were all men, we all shared in the largest room we could find. Our journey took us just shy of two weeks to get here, and it was time well spent on Xiaogang's teachings. Like which paths to take for cultivation and what a good cyclic schedule should be like, he even delved into a bit of how to tell different spirit beasts' cultivation aged. He was the closest to I'd ever get with having Google around here, so naturally, I made sure to memorize everything he said.

It was flattering though when Xiaogang sat to cultivate that night, after saying he was willing to try my method out. He reasoned that as an old man he didn't need to pay much attention to his body's development anymore, so spirit all the way it was.

The following day, we went to the forest early with our huge party of seven, all above the twentieth rank—a rare sight, more so with two Titled Douluos guarding our asses.

"Any ideas what Tang San's next ring should be?" grandpa asked Xiaogang.

"With the powers we have here, we shouldn't have any problems with defeating anything," he said. "Unless of course our luck turns for the worse and some unfathomable beast shows up."

I went up to a tree and knocked on it three times. "Let's not tempt fate grandmaster," I said.

We kept up our wandering, meeting the occasional thousand-year spirit beast, and my grandpas scaring them away while uncle Hu scouted ahead with his Ice Crystal spirit's limited clairvoyance and I was again surprised he was a Spirit Elder of all things. Now I understood why grandpa invited uncle Hu. Curious, I asked uncle Zhi as well.

"Uncle Zhi," I said, "what's your spirit?"

Uncle Zhi smiled with pride and pounded his chest, then said, "Uncle here has his Daybreak Fire Lance."

He summoned his spirit in his hands, and a long pole arm like weapon appeared. Its bladed part was something that looked like half-way between a halberd and a trident, large and heavy, and a hearty flame sat at the tip of its middle edge.

"Uncle here can make his spear spew fire," he said.

Then uncle Hu and grandpa Shan snickered while grandpa Lin stared with glazed over eyes. "I see things have gotten worse," he said, looking into my eyes.

"I had no hand in this," I said.

A little more time passed and Tang San eventually spoke up. "How was it that cousin Jin here was able to absorb a nine-hundred-year ring for his first?"

I looked at my grandfathers then at Xiaogang and said, "Wasn't it because of my nature?"

Xiaogang brought a hand up to his chin, and ran a finger over his stubble. "Perhaps we were going about this wrong," he said. "Your merged spirits make sense from the perspective of _after_ you've finished absorbing, not during."

He then turned to my grandfathers, an eyebrow arching up.

Grandpas Shan and Lin looked at each other, then grandpa Shan raised both eyebrows which grandpa Lin answered by lowering both of his. Grandpa Shan then nodded towards Tang San, then after a long moment grandpa Lin massaged his temples.

Grandpa Lin sighed and said, "We helped Jin absorb his ring."

"Really?" I said. "That's news to me."

Tang San nodded. "I also assumed as much," he said.

He did?

Tang San continued, "What teacher said also made me curious, and to think cousin Jin also has a weaker body, I thought there must have been some outside influence that allowed him such good fortune."

"That was an oversight of us old fools," said grandpa Lin. "We should have paid more attention to Jin's cultivation method."

Grandpa Shan nodded as well.

Xiaogang's eyes widened, "Then how come you only found out now?"

"Because at the time," grandpa Lin said, "we were too blinded with our good fortune of finding that Iron Spider-wasp pupa."

"And at just barely a thousand years," grandpa Shan said, "it was perfect to set an unprecedented present for our little Jin."

Grandpa Lin said, "We knew of a way to allow someone to exceed their limit, but it only works for those who also wield the Clear Sky Hammer spirit. But since Tang San is of the same blood, and his soul should also carry an imprint of our spirit, then it should work for him as well."

I sighed and shrugged, then said, "And here I thought I was so exceptional."

Uncle Zhi put on a wry smile. "You'll make me cry little Jin."

Uncle Hu and grandpa Shan chuckled and grandpa Lin whispered at Xiaogang, "You'll get used to it."

Tang San cleared his throat, "And what is this method you speak of?"

After another few minutes of wandering and pushing deeper into the forest we then found three suitable spirit beasts: first was a Ghost Vine in a quiet grove, surrounded by a host of withered bones; second was a Jade Dew Spider as large as a person and dragging a juvenile Windward Fox back into its nest near by a clearing; and third was a one thousand and three-hundred-year Spiteful Velvet Machineel standing along on a little hill and surrounded only by Blue Silver Grasses.

"Tang San," said Xiaogang, "your safest choice is the Ghost Vine, but if these seniors' method can truly allow one to exceed their limits, then the latter two would surely make your cultivation even stronger."

Tang San nodded, and I and everyone else listened in on the impromptu lecture.

Xiaogang raised a finger. "Ghost Vine is a parasitic kind of plant that lures prey in with its flowers, then poisons them to serve as fertilizer. And as a plant spirit, it should have little in the way of an ego so there wouldn't be any ill effects on you at all. And if my suspicion proves right, it should give your spirit something restraining like your Bind."

"Next," said Xiaogang, bringing up a second finger, "is the Jade Dew Spider, this is a spirit beast that weaves its web together with grasses and other foliage to create a land bound nest, and covers it with a sweet poison to attract prey. This creature will have a more potent personality so there could be some retribution when you kill and absorb this ring, but its increase to your restraining capacity will be even stronger than Ghost Vine's, and I'm sure will involve netting somehow."

"The last," he said, voice dropping in pitch, "is the Spiteful Velvet Machineel, a sinister plant spirit that has no natural predator and thrives only on particularly nutritious lands. Every part of it from its fruit to its leaves and roots are poisonous, and our biggest problem would've been approaching it, but with two Titled Douluo here, suppressing the poison with spirit power shouldn't be a problem. Though the energy from its spirit ring might be too much for you."

Xiaogang then turned to me. "Luckily," he said, "we have your cousin."

I raised my hand.

"Yes, little Jin?"

"Would the poison energy poison me?" It was strange how all that worked in concept.

Xiaogang shook his head. "But it may add a slight poisonous effect to your domain."

Huh, a Domain that could drain and poison at the same time… not a bad deal. "Then I'm alright with this."

Xiaogang nodded, then turned to his student. "As your teacher, I of course would prefer to give you the best ring possible, hence this Machineel. But, the danger of absorbing a thousand-year ring is unprecedented, and the only example we have here is your cousin."

Tang San sat at the very edge of his knees, completely focused on his teacher, and here I was thinking how the hell exactly was he gonna kill a tree. I was able to kill those Blue Silver Grasses by Devouring them until their life force gave out, him though… there's always hitting it with his Hammer I guess.

Tang San nodded. "I believe in teacher," he said. "And I believe in my cousin as well." His eyes had a sharp light within them, and he seemed all too eager. "I choose the Machineel."

"Very well," Xiaogang said.

I raised my hand again.

"Yes?"

"Uhh, uncle Xiaogang, how exactly is cousin San going to kill a tree?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Senior Lin," he said, "if I may ask you to bring out your spirit?"

Grandpa shared a look with grandpa Shan and me, but otherwise did as asked. He brought out his spirit, and that large Hammer appeared again looking just as sinister as the last time I saw it. Nine rings appeared behind him, two yellow, two purple, five black, the normal ideal configuration.

"Little San," Xiaogang said, "if you'd please wrap your spirit around senior Lin's."

Tang San did so, and the black hammer got covered in that brilliant Blue Silver Grass.

"That can't be right," I said, voice rising in pitch. Everyone else there just stared at me. "I mean, right?" I looked at our companions, but most of them were just nodding along like it made sense. "Like, that's just… I don't know? I—I, just no, right?"

Grandpa Shan met my eyes and he just shrugged, "I'm not the theoretical master here."

Xiaogang cleared his throat. "Senior Lin, if you'd be so kind as to hit the tree without coating your hammer in spirit power," he said, then turned to Tang San. "And little San, please coat your grass with as much spirit power as you can."

"No way," I said, shaking my head, eyes widening as grandpa Lin stepped closer and closer to that tree together with Tang San next to him.

"Five gold this fails?" uncle Zhi said to me.

"No deal," I said, not even bothering to look at him.

The two arrived at the tree's base, grandpa Lin swung at it, the damned tree turned into splinters, and poof—a purple ring came out. Tang San then unwrapped his grass from grandfather's hammer and used it to ensnare the ring all the way until where the five of us were waiting for them.

With a smile, Xiaogang nodded at me, and Tang San sat down to cultivate as his spirit started wrapping around that purple ring.

I just stood there with my mouth open as grandpas Shan and Lin started releasing their black light over Tang San, and the pain and spasms that were about to hit—from what I knew from experience—stopped a few moments after they started.

"So that's what you were doing when I absorbed those rings," I said.

Grandpa Shan stared at me with a flat expression. "Usually we do it for geniuses trying to absorb a ring beyond their limit, not an idiot being greedy."

" _Touché_ ," I said.

"What was that?" said grandpa Shan.

All in all, absorbing plant spirits were milder due to not having as developed egos or instincts like animal spirits have, and Tang San absorbed the ring for the better part of two days. I and uncle Zhi guarded our group from any wandering beasts for the first six hours, and after that grandpa Shan left grandpa Lin to do his thing.

It was something called the Sumeru Refining Method, and it looked as if grandpa Lin was dancing around Tang San with his spirit out, slowly arching his hammer up and down in undulating waves as lines of black light swirled about. The reddish-purple aura of the Machineel spirit ring was suppressed within that black funnel, and all of it concentrated into my cousin, the power compressing into his body in time with the up and down motions.

I asked grandpa Shan to teach me but he said it was only possible after reaching the Titled Douluo stage for the Clear Sky Hammer, so that was that.

What was surprising though was that I didn't even need to do anything. We were all so worried about what would happen with my cousin that we were all quite happy with how Tang San just soaked up all that energy like a sponge would water, barely anything leaked out. The only strange thing I guess was his aura was white, versus what I expected to be something bluish given his spirit. Everyone else including me had their aura in the same color as their spirit, so maybe this white power was part of his being a genius like me.

When they finished, Tang San opened his eyes and the same reddish-purple luster lingered in them before giving way to his clear blue.

"Many thanks to grandfather," he said with a bow. His body looked a lot more robust and the seven-year-old now looked somewhere closer to nine or ten, standing a good two inches taller than me now. Tang San released his spirit, and two rings floated up: one yellow, one purple. Another freak by all rights.

Xiaogang shook his head and said, "In a way, I'm starting to wish I was born to the Clear Sky sect instead."

"We're still willing to welcome you," grandpa Lin said.

Grandmaster chuckled then said, "I am flattered, but I've already declined little Jin's offer."

Grandpa Shan raised an eyebrow at me, and I winked back, he shook his head before saying, "Did he give any absurd conditions?"

"Nothing strange like that, no," Xiaogang said, waving his hands in front of him. "Though he did offer to teach me his cultivation method."

Uncles Zhi and Hu looked at me.

"Yes?" I said, looking back at them.

Xiaogang clapped his hands. "Little San," he said, "how are you feeling?"

Tang San nodded and brought up a hand with a tuft of grass in it. "I am right now at the twenty-fourth rank thanks to grandfather's help, and this new ability is called the Velvet Piercing Needles."

His purple ring shone, and the tuft of grass twisted into a ten-centimeter long needle in a bluish-purple color. "It also comes with the Spiteful Velvet Machineel's poison." The light in his eyes brightened, and crow's feet trailed along his cheeks at the word. He then threw the needle at a tree and it pierced up to half-way in as the entry point sizzled with a slight bit of smoke.

"This needle also has a piercing property to it," he said, then looked at me with a determined smile. "I think cultivating towards a cross between control and attack system like cousin Jin might be possible thanks to this."

"And all that with Blue Silver Grass," I said, shaking my head. God help us all.

"As long as it's cultivated correctly, any spirit can become strong," Xiaogang said with a firm nod.

"Eh?" I said, and Xiaogang looked just as surprised. "I never said Blue Silver Grass was weak." The others there all looked at me again. "Grandpa Shan saved me from devouring the cultivation of a few dozen clumps of ten-year Blue Silver Grasses."

"You did what?" said uncle Zhi with a pale face.

"Ten-year Blue Silver Grass?" said Xiaogang with a blank stare.

"Blue Silver Grass isn't weak?" said Tang San, simply baffled.

The real details of that night were then revealed, me going mad with power, sucking that patch of forest dry, grandpa finding me in the middle of all that death and decay, the bloody mess I became when shit hit the fan. Everything. At the end of all that, Xiaogang only had one thing to say.

"I absolutely regret not having been born into the Clear Sky sect."

#

The trip back was uneventful, but our party was larger by one so the conversations were livelier somewhat. We made quick work of the road—or at least as quick as we could with a large carriage: we'd ride non-stop until the horses got tired and set up camp, where Tang San and I would spar every now and then to help stabilize our powers. We'd also walk with the carriage to train our bodies at uncle Xiaogang's urging.

During the times we'd spar, and thanks to the difference of two rings and another four ranks, even my versatility was restrained by those poisonous needles. That unnatural throwing technique of his plus those needles were just perfect for him, and it effectively gave him more avenues of attack and a relatively endless supply of ammunition to harass with that was just not worth the effort of trying to counter.

It was also at this time when I learned to coat myself with the Clear Sky Hammer's aura, though at a high cost. It helped stop the needles outside a range of five meters, but anywhere within that and his throwing was already strong enough to pierce through my makeshift shield.

After twelve days, we finally made it back to Nuoding city and safely delivered Xiaogang and Tang San back to the academy, only to find a now twenty-second ranked Xiao Wu with a yellow spirit ring. Without suspense, her surprise at Tang San's purple ring was understandable, and it took a good long deal of explaining the how and why to finally get her to accept reality, and at the end of it took a good helping of steamed buns to placate her annoyance at me and Tang San.

We said our goodbyes then, and left Nuoding city with our party of five to return to the sect—with the promise to visit every other month to see how Tang San was doing and to provide his allowance as a direct descendant of the sect. Our reserves and income were deep enough to account for another hundred spirit coins every three quarters, and the deal with Shi San's smithy still stood. It was good training according to Tang San, so I went with the deal, promising to provide him with whatever platinum and tungsten I could find.

However, on our way back we encountered something unexpected.

The carriage stopped—and grandpas Shan and Lin both had grave expressions while I found it hard to breathe from the pressure pressing down everywhere.

"Come out," said a booming bass, "alight your carriage and I won't destroy you there and then."

Grandpa Shan shared a look with grandpa Lin and nodded. To scare two Titled Douluo like this meant that whoever or how many ever confronted us had at least another such power waiting. I opened my Domain but my golden light wouldn't even leave my skin, as if the weight of that pressure was akin to being beneath a vast sea—much like the oppressive nature of the Clear Sky Hammer's aura.

Grandpa Shan was the first to come out, followed by grandpa Lin then me, while uncles Hu and Zhi were already lying unconscious. Here were two Spirit Ancestors above the fortieth rank, and to see them in such pitiful states was just beyond baffling.

The pressure intensified as the afternoon forest's sky deepened into a deathly still black.

"We are here," grandpa Shan said.

Grandpa Lin pulled me closer to him as his spirit power wrapped around me.

"What do you want from us?" grandpa Shan added.

The pressure again deepened, and for a moment I lost my breath as those last few seconds of my past life surfaced at the back of my mind. All at once, I was that hopeful idiot crossing the street believing everything was gonna be fine again. The deep black closed in around us as the trees and skies disappeared from view and started to blanket us.

Grandpas Shan and Lin's knees seemed to buckle from the pressure, but they kept their bodies as upright as they could despite that inky black light pressing down on us.

"Why do you approach my son now?" said the voice, and from that silent black stepped out a man in a ragged cloak… with nine rings floating behind him. Xiaogang's lecture on spirit rings surfaced in my mind together with the fate of my aunt. Hundred-thousand-year spirit rings promised untold power: two abilities and a spirit bone with two abilities as well, all well beyond human comprehension.

The rings adorned him like the corona of a solar eclipse, two yellow, two purple, four black… and one blood red ring at the very center.

Something warm trailed down my robes and my pride was crushed within that bright red light.

"We do not know who you mean," said grandpa Shan with a bow—straining against the effort. "If we offended you then we can only apologize, but we do not even know who you speak of."

Another surge of pressure crashed down on us, and grandpa Shan's knees finally fell to the ground.

"My son," the cloaked figure said, "Tang San."

The man raised his hand and a gigantic black hammer, taller than even he appeared in his hands and swallowed the light.

"Little Hao?!" said grandpa Shan, bringing up his head from that crushing sea. "Is it really you little Hao?!" Tears started streaming down grandpa's face and that hooded figure seemed to back away a step.

"What does the Clear Sky sect want with my son?" uncle Hao said, that black light weakening in intensity.

The things that happened next were as fucked up as the scene that led to this shit stain on my damned robes.

Uncle Hao caught wind of Tang San leaving with some old men towards a forest, but he didn't hear fast enough that his son was now a bona fide freak of nature and only cared about those old men—whom he recognized as the elders of the sect. Then one thing led to another and then there we were sharing a meal with the goddamn Clear Sky douluo as three grown men cried underneath the stars well into the night.

After that, we got back to the mountains of our home and under a promise to uncle Hao, would never speak of us meeting him or his request of us to regularly provide him with whatever information we could about the state of the other sect's circumstances, and the situation with Heaven Dou empire during our visits to Tang San. He also made us promise not to tell his son of us meeting him, and to only provide him help during the times he'd need his ring, but to otherwise leave him alone to find his own path.

Like that, our hectic schedule would continue for five years: back and forth from the sect, training my body with the travels, buying metals for my cousin, exchanging pointers with him and Xiao Wu, teaching the Nuoding academy students what little martial arts I knew, meeting with uncle Hao and letting him know about his son, sometimes learning from uncle Xiaogang, then there was that one time uncle Zhi ended up offending some guys from the Blue Lightning Dragon clan but that wasn't that important compared to the date I ended up having to go on under threat of the Sword Douluo's wrath, oh and there was also Xiao Wu's ire at my not buying her her favorite sweet cakes from the capital during the middle of the second year.

But yeah, with all that, things went swimmingly all things considered.


	11. Chapter 11

Five years to the day, and we were back in Star Dou Forest to get my second spirit ring, and for Tang San to get his third. Only after Xiaogang and my grandpas deemed my body strong enough did they allow me to get my next ring, and even then, I had to wait for cousin Tang to breakthrough to the thirtieth rank since the only gave the go once the little monster reached the cusp of the twenty-ninth.

Hence, to save on time, we just waited instead. What was a few more days compared to five years, more so to someone who'd set an unprecedented record of reaching rank twenty just before his fifth birthday.

We stood at the edge of the forest with the same people forming our group: grandpas Shan and Lin, then uncles Hu and Zhi, then me and Tang San and uncle Xiaogang. The little scuffle me and uncle Zhi got into caused him to make a breakthrough so now he was a five ring, fifty-third ranked Spirit Ancestor. Uncle Xiaogang also reported he was somehow half-way into the twenty-ninth rank bottleneck, and what changes we did see were instead on Luo San Pao. The previously pudgy purple pig-like dog thing now looked a lot sleeker and more menacing, sort of like a short-haired Saint Bernard that was about a meter and a half tall.

Grandpa Shan even joked that if Xiaogang's spirit grew any larger and leaner, then he might even be able to ride him around.

"Little San, little Jin," said uncle Xiaogang, with San Pao standing next to him and panting. "Little San should be able to exceed the limit of the third ring by around two to three times." He was shaking his head all that time with a pitiful smile against his day-old stubble. "And you little Jin, can aim for much higher with your next. The normal limit for the second ring is at around seven hundred years, so double that would be around a thousand and four hundred, and considering your first ring from a nine-hundred-year beast, then a thousand eight-hundred to two thousand should be within your range."

"Understood," we two kids said. Xiao Wu was again not together with us even though she'd already reached the twenty-eighth rank since there wasn't much point to her going, though I wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly showed up with a new ring saying she made a breakthrough while we were gone. As far as I knew, there weren't any major families with a rabbit spirit, and the family name Xiao was also something common so perhaps Xiao Wu was just one of those one-in-a-million geniuses—unless she wasn't.

"Do any of you have preferences?" asked uncle Xiaogang

Tang San hummed for a few moments before saying, "A spirit that would add more weight to Blue Silver Grass would be good, when coming from an attack development perspective, while something to enhance the delivery of a restraint or to add another effect to Bind would be good for a control development perspective."

Xiaogang nodded and said, "Given your initial choice to go towards the control route, your Machineel needles were a bit of a deviation, but the potent poison you gained from it synergized well with your spirit, so I believe that as long as we get a beast that follows this poison cultivation, then it should be alright."

I shuddered, remembering the many times I was on the receiving end of those needles. Sometimes, my Clear Sky aura coating would lose potency under that piercing effect and I'd get poisoned half-way into a spar. Given my cultivation, it was possible to resist it to some degree, but anytime it happened easily spelled defeat for me within a minute or two—and that was with twentieth rank spirit power. What more for those with lower cultivation? And what now, with Tang San advancing to the next stage?

Uncle Xiaogang turned to me, "And you little Jin?"

"Do you have any suggestions, uncle?" I said. Our relationship was a lot more harmonious now, less hostile and suspicious to say the least, and it was thanks to mutual respect that we eventually settled a few issues with like what did we really want with Tang San or why only tell him now about his Ten Core Spirit Principles helping the sect cultivate and all that. Typical adult worries and such.

Xiaogang nodded. "The controlling properties of your domain lie in its ability to deprive your opponents, so anything increasing your range or potency would be good, though adding effects would also be beneficial." He sighed before continuing, "But, we also have to consider what ability it would give your hammer since your spirits are merged."

After joining the sect as my bodyguards, uncles Hu and Zhi were allowed to learn more about—well, me, so now they were also in on the secret to my power.

Grandpa Lin spoke up, "I have a suggestion." We all turned to him and he continued, "Something with lightning in its nature would be good since our Clear Sky Hammer can also go towards this direction, not just with tyrannical weight or force. And given lightning's effects, I believe it would also be beneficial to developing little Jin's domain abilities."

Grandpa Shan laughed out loud and said, "Hah! Our little Jin following the path of his own grandpas, isn't that precious?"

"I never did get to see why you two are called Storm Cloud and Thunder Clap douluos," I said, pointing to grandpas Lin and Shan respectively.

Grandpa Shan smiled. "You never asked."

I narrowed my eyes at him and said, " _Touché_." Grandpa Shan laughed at that, and I continued, "I agree with this line of reasoning, so anything with an electrical or lighting property is good for me. Though something adding to defense would also be good, maybe something like a rhino or elephant, or maybe even a turtle." Legends of the Black Turtle Genbu resurfaced, as well as the many derivative works of fiction the mythical beast of the North inspired.

"A turtle?" asked uncle Zhi. "A creature with such a gentle nature just won't suit you little Jin." For some reason, all heads there nodded. "Something more sinister would be better, like a furious snake or a rabid tiger."

I narrowed my eyes at him as well. "I won't refute that," I said, pointing at him. "But I'll remember this." Proving a point and keeping petty grudges in good humor were one of the few past times I had, thanks to the vast memory capacity Brain Charger provided me.

We went on our merry way, and the first to find their spirit beast was me. It emerged from a cave much like that horrible memory of my first ring.

"Little Jin, there!" said grandpa Shan, pointing at the moth as large as me with the electric blue wings leaving behind crackling powders in its wake.

"That's a Thunder Heart Moth," said uncle Xiaogang. "Its wings shed electrically charged scales that are able to stop the heart with a touch, and since it has one pair of circles on its wings with another just about to form, it should be at just before two thousand years of cultivation! Little Jin, that spirit beast is perfect for you!"

The moth caught wind of our presence and started circling somewhere nearby. I wasn't liking the direction of this conversation.

Uncle Xiaogang started barking instructions, "Zhi, you get the moth's attention with your fire spear, while seniors Lin and Shan should suppress it with their aura. Little Jin, prepare your hammer."

"Won't I get covered in goo and stuff again?" I said.

"It'll be alright cousin," said Tang San.

Uncle Zhi shot out a column of flame with his fourth ring, and the moth then turned to glide in towards our group, so grandpa Lin stood in front of it.

"But electrified bug remains sound like a very messy and painful affair."

"Just think of the benefit it would do to your cultivation," Tang San said.

Grandpa Shan came out of nowhere and a black ring shone from above him, his hammer appearing in turn and casting a net of lightning like black light over that entire moth's body and pressing it down and faster towards us.

"Yeah, but… it's disgusting," I said.

"Little Jin! Prepare your spirit!" said uncle Xiaogang as he, uncle Hu, and Zhi dove out of the way of that electrified monstrosity wriggling and writhing underneath its restraints.

"What is a moment to the rest of your life?"

"Fine," I said, bringing out my Hammer and pouring all I could into it as my first ring shone. He made it sound so easy, coming from the guy who doesn't have eidetic memory.

Grandpa Lin's third ring of purple shone, and a boom emanated from his hammer to stop that moth in its crash course, it also stopped twitching after the collision.

I then jumped towards it, as the black light formed into a bolt and I drove my spirit down onto that moth's head.

The Hammer pierced into its eye and went straight out the mandibles, and the moth then started struggling again as I enveloped it with Devour and grandpa Shan had to retract his spirit ability to avoid accidentally killing it. Then the damn thing flapped its wings and sent out a gust of electrified powder—which all got devoured by my Domain, but sent arcs of electricity through my spirit and into me, making my entire body spasm.

I coated myself with the Clear Sky aura and latched onto the beast as it shakily got up on its legs, and I started wailing my Hammer over its head over and over and over again, guts and poisonous electrified scales scattering everywhere.

The moth would buckle and flap, throwing more of its guts everywhere and I'd weigh down my Hammer over the opening in its thorax just to keep my grip, when it tired, I'd restart my wailing. Praying to whatever cruel gods there were to just make this all go away. We kept up the struggle for god knows how long until I puked about three times and the creature's head and torso were finally cracked open and no more juices would come out—with a final swing, the twitching stopped, and a purple ring started condensing above my head. Elation and relief rose from within, pushing away the numbness of my entire body and the pounding pain in my head.

Black light then surrounded my gold and I started feeding off my grandfathers' energies, replenishing my own.

I sat on top of the carcass amidst the crackling shards. The forest was silent, and none dared to speak—or even look at my direction.

"Not a word," I said, silently filling my spirit power bar back up. I also extended my domain over its now dead husk to again feed off whatever residual energies there were, but the electricity kept flowing into me, and my right arm only now decided to go berserk together with my left big toe.

Thanks to grandpa Shan's electrified stimulation, my heart never stopped beating—else, spending so much time bathing in the scales of that moth known for stopping hearts would've done what it was known for and killed me in the stupidest way I could think of.

I then sat down to cultivate and willed that new ring be taken into my merged spirits, as a line of pain flashed a bright white through all the nerve clusters in my body. Uncontrollable jerks and spasms riddled my everything as the death throes of that moth replayed over and over in my mind, flashes of blue and black mingling together in a sea of gold. I lashed back with Devour and filtered everything I could, passing it through the chakras and into my Crown. But every now and then a sliver of blue with escape and wreak havoc within.

With a flash of brilliance, I coated myself with the Clear Sky aura, and slowly saturated my own body with its power, Devour's amber light deepening into the darkened gold of dawn. The spasms slowed, and the chakras expanded together as the bright blues turned darker and darker into a midnight black.

Then, with another surge of effort, I willed all my spirit power to completely smother whatever was left of that energy, and drive a torrent through my chakras as they ground to a slower pace with the massive influx. Each completed turn would color the energy my own, and each trickle into my Crown made this welling sensation from everywhere in my body become greater, almost making me want to laugh like a maniac. It reminded me of that night with those dozens upon dozens of white rings, and the mad dance with which I'd killed—the cruelty and joy of throwing around my weight resounding like a clear gong at the back of my mind.

When it all finished, I couldn't help a great bellowing laugh from the pit of my belly escape, as I opened my eyes to the rest of the group all huddled together with blankets under the cool night sky.

"Shhh," said grandpa Shan with a start. His voice was low and cautious, "You'll wake the beasts you little rascal!"

We couldn't make fires whenever we spent the night in a spirit beast sanctuary, since fire element spirits were attracted to them, and there was nothing brighter under the night sky than a fire element spirit kicking up a fuss.

"All you farts made me go through such pain again," I said, throwing off the half-burnt half-dissolved blanket covering my almost naked body. "That moth burned me inside out," I said. My breath smelled like burnt flesh. "I'm just lucky I stayed alive despite all that." I shook my head and noticed the whopping twenty-seven in Interface.

"It was the perfect spirit for you," said grandpa Shan, hiding his mouth with his sleeves. "Wouldn't you rather thank the heavens for their favor of you finding that spirit?"

I put my hands to my eyes and felt the hard grit of insect chitin against my tender skin, as tears welled up from my eyes. "I really want to take a bath now," I said, sniveling.

After cleaning up, it was back to storytelling around the camp… site. "Why the hell do I keep getting insects anyway?!"

"Please cousin Jin," said Tang San, also hiding his mouth, "lower your voice."

"What," I said, noticing everyone looking at me, "do I smell bad?"

Silence was all I got.

Finally, grandpa Lin sighed and cuffed grandpa Shan and uncle Zhi, while uncle Hu just watched on shaking his head.

Grandpa Lin said, "You were twitching about while absorbing the spirit ring for three days. Much like the first time you did that wasp pupa."

"Oh," I said.

Uncle Zhi then composed himself and said, "You were also letting out strange sounds like 'aieeee' and 'ououou' while wrapped in that electricity and making all sorts of poses."

I looked at grandmaster who wouldn't meet my eyes. "It was certainly a very unique way to absorb a ring," he said.

I then turned to Tang San. "It makes me wonder how unruly you are asleep, cousin Jin." I'd never slept over at Tang San's room since there was never a need, this question though was just out of left field.

"I'm a heavy sleeper, cousin San, I don't move much."

Grandpa Shan cleared his throat, "Well? Care to tell us now?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and rolled my eyes. "I've just reached the twenty-seventh rank just now," I said.

Uncle Zhi tsked at the side.

"And the two abilities I got were: Static Scales for the Crown, and Thunder Heart Strike for the Hammer," I said, releasing my spirits as a half-purple and half-yellow ring and a fully purple one appeared. "Static Scales increases the normal range of my Domain by another five meters, bringing my normal range up to fifteen meters, and single direction range by ten, allowing me up to thirty-five meters. It adds a paralyzing electric property to my Domain." I turned to grandpa Shan. "Grandpa?"

"Let this old man atone for laughing," he said. "Ready whenever."

My purple ring shone, and my gold light shot towards grandpa, enveloping him as sparkling particles rained down from within that light.

"I see," he said. "This much electricity should be enough to restrain other spirit masters of your level, and impede those above yours." He turned to uncle Zhi. "Care to try?"

Uncle Zhi shook his head. "Little Jin is a freak of nature, I'd sooner save face by forfeit now than regret it later."

"And the other?" said grandpa Lin. "I volunteer."

I shook my head, and said, "The thunder heart strike would most likely make a lot of noise, so I think we should reserve the display for tomorrow morning.

We all agreed and slept, and the following morning, I woke everyone up by smashing a tree and felling it. Of course, I also Devoured the life force of that tree to avoid a pointless death. I smiled at grandpa Shan and uncle Zhi, and we then set out for Tang San's next spirit.

A few hours later, and uncle Zhi would block a swiping sword slash from a yellow mantis as tall as he.

"That's a Daffodil Jeweled Mantis," said uncle Xiaogang. "Its forelegs are able to slash through both stone and iron equally, and its flight speed is among the fastest of the mantis spirit beasts."

A flash of understanding passed Tang San's eyes, "I want it then!" His purple ring shone, then he threw a flurry of poisoned needles, all flying in different arcs towards different joints on that mantis.

Xiaogang smiled and said, "We'll have to rely on seniors' help again later to absorb this near four-thousand-year spirit beast."

Unlike the mess I'd made, Tang San actually killed his beast nearly all on his own, harassing it with his needles and continuously feeding it his poison. Grandpas Shan and Lin kept it from escaping while I impeded its movements with my Static while draining its strength through Devour. The battle would've gone faster had Tang San asked for help, but only when the creature threatened detonation did he finally strike the killing blow—driving the thing to near desperation.

He then absorbed the vivid purple ring, and after four days, emerged with crystal clear wings adorning his hips as the sun rose.

"An external spirit bone?!" said grandpa Shan. "Little San actually acquired an external spirit bone?!"

Tang San settled back on the ground with shaking legs. "It would take some getting used to," he said, "but yes, this ring was absolutely superb." A light danced in his eyes and his third ring shone, as the grass around him stabbed upwards with a flash of silver light. "These are called the Jeweled Mantis Swords," he said. He then broke one of the thinner pieces off and threw it at the tree, completely going through the wood like butter before embedding itself in the next one behind it. "The blades carry a tyrannical piercing ability after transforming Blue Silver Grass, and I can also coat them with the Machineel's poison."

He broke off another piece, then his second ring glowed, dyeing that pristine white with a dripping bluish-purple. Tang San threw it out, again going through a tree, then embedding itself completely into the next one and already sizzling.

I would've whistled if I could, but all that came out was, " _Damn_ , San."

The trip back took another two or so weeks, and lo and behold there was Xiao Wu now at the twenty-ninth rank. In a way I was disappointed, but rolled with it regardless. She had her secrets, so did Tang San and I, it was normal.

After getting us three together though, uncle Xiaogang apparently had something to say.

We were in his office and I stood on attention by Tang San's left while Xiao Wu stood at his right.

"Little San, little Jin, little Wu," he said. "I believe we shouldn't coddle you three any longer."

Grandpas Shan and Lin nodded. Then grandpa Lin said, "I'd already informed your father, little Jin, and he believes your staying with the sect would also hamper your growth."

"Taking risks is a must," said grandpa Shan, "and only by rousing your potential could you three truly achieve your true limits—and exceed them."

Xiaogang closed his eyes, "The world is much larger than just your sect." He looked at me, then to Xiao Wu, "Or this lowly Nuoding city." He then leveled his gaze with Tang San's. "Us old men can only teach you so much, and only through adversity and the real unfiltered world can you truly rise."

Tang San bowed low. "Tang San understands," he said.

"Where brother goes, I go," said Xiao Wu, also bowing.

"Don't you think that kinda came out of nowhere?" I said.

Everyone turned to me. Just suddenly telling me they wanted me to strike out in the world like that was… irresponsible. I never had a say in this decision, and if it's for my own good, then shouldn't I have had time to prepare myself at least? "Well?"

"We understand," said grandpa Shan, "we understand all too well dearest Jin, but you must also realize your responsibility to the sect."

"We've already made mistakes with your cultivation," said grandpa Lin, "and though we've seen that quality of yours that endears you to people, you are still much too blind to the world at large."

"And that's what these trips to uncle were for, weren't they?" I was shaking my head. "We _all_ agreed to go to him for help, and we got it. Because _that's_ how a family solves their problems." I stared hard into their eyes in turns. "How _we've_ solved our problems before."

Uncle Xiaogang then raised his voice. "Enough, little Jin, your willfulness is blinding you to what we wish."

I frowned at him and said, "And what is _it_ that you want?"

Uncle Xiaogang said, "We wish to send you to school."

I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again, scratched my head, then said, "School?"

Grandpa Shan looked bewildered and grandpa Lin was just as perturbed, then grandpa Lin said, "Yes, we were hoping to send you to a school we trust, to find people who can keep up with you."

Grandpa Shan seemed lost but continued, "None of our students your age is comparable to you, little Jin, and to only have Tang San and Xiao Wu to learn with every day will make you instead make you three's cultivation stagnant, and even if you all are strong—then you will only know of the strength of each other, and not of others."

Uncle Xiaogang cleared his throat, "And this is exactly your flaw as well, little Jin. You are much too sure of yourself and your own power, but you are also not aware of your own potential. You can only see as far as you can fathom, and what leaps of faith you've taken were always within reach of your grandfathers' hands."

Tang San put his hand on my shoulder, "I understand the pain of parting with family, cousin, but I also understand the message my father sent me." Tang San looked straight into uncle Xiaogang's eyes. "In order to take back what Spirit Hall had stolen from me, I vow to do all in my power to shake the very foundations of their lofty castles. I, son of Tang Hao, shall make Spirit Hall pay all they owe back a thousand-fold."

I sighed and said, "Does this mean I can't visit home anymore?"

"What?!" said grandpa Shan. "What sort of strange wind gave you that idea you, stupid grandson of mine?!"


	12. Chapter 12

I groaned into my hands, remembering what happened just two days ago as the sunlight bore down on my head.

"Cheer up little Jin," said Tang San. "It was only your filial piety that made you act as such." He was rubbing my back.

We were walking our way from Nuoding to Suotuo city to enroll into this so-called Shrek academy on uncle Xiaogang's orders. The journey was going faster than I expected. Three spirit masters walking nonstop apparently made good time without having to mind night or day—thanks to my Domain.

Xiao Wu laughed like an airy bell. "Who knew the little master was so affectionate towards his grandpas?"

I looked at her with a flat stare. "They're my family," I said. "Of course, I won't agree to just leave them, but school is a natural part of life, and if they'd just explained it to me in the first place then all that wouldn't have had to happen." I threw my arms up to the sky for emphasis, then brought them back down to hide my burning cheeks.

"If you'd like," said Tang San with a laugh, "you could call me big brother to lessen the loneliness?"

I shrugged and said, "I see no harm in it."

Xiao Wu stepped ahead of us and puffed up her cheeks at Tang San. "But wasn't I your little sister?" she said.

He smiled back, waving his hands in front of him to placate Nuoding academy's boss Wu, then said, "I never asked him to be my little brother. He's already my cousin so he's family regardless, but you I chose to make a part of mine."

I wanted to say something about the implication of doing that but decided against it. Jokes about marriage and sex were most likely out of bounds for a ten-year-old.

Xiao Wu crossed her arms and walked ahead, saying, "Such a frivolous person, asking people left and right to be their siblings."

But just then a… person—because I'd gotten into the habit of always wearing my Crown—appeared from the bushes and rushed Xiao Wu with a knife.

I only said rushed because he was running, but to a spirit master it was more a brisk walk's pace.

Xiao Wu frowned at the man aiming for her—then kicked him down to the ground, as ten white swords thrust upwards from the ground, all dripping with a bluish-purple fluid and stabbing into that man.

"Guagh?" went the man's throes as lines of red dripped down those white blades.

Xiao Wu returned to our side with a swift leap as she released her spirit, two yellow rings floating about her.

Tang San and I followed suit, him with his one yellow and two purple, and me with my half-purple and purple, blue and gold lights joined the vibrant pink.

"You dare attack my sister?" said Tang San, his voice an octave lower than normal, but the man was now spasming and smoking from the potent poison.

I then expanded my Domain over the poor soul and Shocked the guy into unconsciousness—letting Devour destroy the poison energy corroding him. Constantly sparring and getting poisoned by Tang San eventually inured me of his Machineel's poison, which he did as well for Xiao Wu though in a less invasive manner. It was to help us build a resistance to other lesser poisons, he said.

"You'll end up killing him if I let the poison advance any further," I said. Granted his anger was within reason.

Tang San stared at me as if bewildered but otherwise said nothing. He then turned to the bushes that person came from and said, "I know there are three more of you there, come out and we won't kill your friend."

From the bush came a frantic rustling as three other men rushed out and knelt with their heads on the ground before us.

"Please be lenient on us old fools!" said the ratty man. "We did not mean to offend the young masters."

Everyone knew of spirit masters, more so the differences between their spirit's strengths, as well as the strengths of their rings. On top of this, the importance of the ideal configuration of rings was just as widely known.

"We were only forced into banditry because of the misfortune in our lives!" said the other guy in rags. "We ask for forgiveness!"

"We old fools were wrong in offending you," said the one with the beard.

Then all together, the still conscious three knocked their heads on the ground three times.

"No harm done," I said with a smile. "But if we let you go, you might try to steal from others instead, yes? And who's to say you won't do them harm? It won't be our problem then, but then, we'd be at fault if ever. So, I hope you understand if my brother and sister here decide" —I widened my eyes and smile— "something permanent."

Those three men's eyes glazed over as their bodies shook, all turning to Tang San.

He met my eyes and nodded, then turned to Xiao Wu, the hardness in his gaze softening, but when he turned to the men, something sinister replaced the gentle light. He clenched his jaw and said, "Kindness to one's enemy is cruelty to one's self."

Then with a flash of his third ring, four white swords stabbed into those men's heads, killing all of them.

Bile shot up my throat and the burning acid licked my cheeks, tongue, and teeth. I emptied out whatever was left of breakfast there and then while Xiao Wu stood stock still, eyes not leaving those men's lifeless bodies. I turned to Tang San and saw his complexion pale, eyes steeled and unflinching.

"Why'd you kill them?" I said, stopping another flow of acid—but a morbid curiosity danced at the back of my head.

"Your judgement was correct little Jin," said Tang San, and spat at the ground, wiping his mouth after.

"I was implying to scare them witless!" Holy shit. "And those were just ordinary people! Not spirit masters." I had my suspicion on what spirit abilities could do to normal people, but I didn't want to find out like this.

"We don't have the time or authority to reform others who choose to do wrong to live," said Tang San with a leveled voice. "And neither are there any guards here along the highways, instead, we did the people a favor by cleaning up this kind of trash."

I shook my head, what's done was already done, but to do something like that with such resolve was… unnerving. "And what if they really were suffering from poverty?"

Tang San's eyes lost their sharp light. "Then they should've been resolved to face the consequence of living by the law of the strong," he said.

"Brother," said Xiao Wu, her cheeks still void of color. "Thank you for protecting me."

I sighed and buried my face in my hands. Having the power to kill and choosing to do so were things I never thought I'd have to deal with. Everyone I'd ever faced could take what I could dish out, but… just a slight misstep and I could cause a massacre.

"What we did was not wrong," said Tang San. He then put on a sad smile. "And you are kind, little Jin, much kinder than I am."

Xiao Wu pressed herself onto Tang San, and said, "And so are you brother, you only did what you did to honor your promise."

"And the bodies?" I said.

"What about the bodies?" Tang San said.

"These could cause disease should they rot." Their blood was already starting to pool on the ground.

Xiao Wu looked between the two of us. "I am not in favor of burying them," she said.

I stopped another shot of bile, and willed my first ability on, my gold light enveloping the corpses. " _Another man's trash is another man's treasure_ ," I said under my breath.

I Devoured whatever was left of their bodies, flesh and bones and all, and just like that time with the rabbit all those years ago, a hot red light flowed into me, washing into the well that was my Crown. Xiao Wu looked on in horror, while Tang San's eyes kept still—only observing. When I finished, not even bones remained as everything disintegrated into dust.

I breathed out, feeling that still pulsing crimson within the realm of my Crown. "We can burn the clothes after to remove all traces of what happened."

"Why did you do that, little Jin?" asked Tang San, his brows in a knot.

"I'd resolved long ago to only kill what I would eat," I said, as more memories of that night returned, and the seeming screams of those dying plants as they gave their life to feed my own. "And I was responsible for the deaths of these men, hence, my duty to fulfill."

We spoke no words the rest of that night, instead walking well until morning under the light of my spirit. Had there been any other bands then, we saw none, and—it was for the best.

The following morning at just after daybreak, we arrived at our destination: Suotuo city. We then went to the first inn we saw and I volunteered to scout out where Shrek academy was to get my thoughts straightened out, as for Tang San, he'd most likely get dragged around by Xiao Wu to shop and whatnot—like always.

I was walking along the stone lined road, minding my business when I happened upon a shop that seemed to make my spirit tingle. I'd learned over the years that my Crown reacted to other items that contained spirit power, be they exceptional plants or ores or even spirit tools.

I went in and saw knickknacks and doodads of all shapes and sizes, and I could already foresee the pain it'd cause my wallet. I walked over to where I assumed the counter would be and instead found a bespectacled old man on a rocking chair sleeping on the job.

"Good day sir," I said. "I'd like to inquire about a few of your goods?"

A grey eye peeked out of a sluggish eyelid and he just waved a hand in reply.

"Is that a yes, you may just look around as you wish?"

He grunted, and it was as good a confirmation as I could get. I went off to a corner of the store away from view and summoned my Crown into my hands. Using my Domain only needed my spirit manifested, but to benefit from the expansion in awareness, I'd need to wear it. With my spirit in hand, I got about to touching everything I could with my Domain on.

There were some items that warmed or cooled to my spirit power's touch but none reacted in a grandiose way. Disappointed, I went back to the old man and told him I found nothing I wanted and saw Tang San and Xiao Wu on my out.

"Hello little Jin," said Tang San.

"Hello," echoed Xiao Wu beside him.

Me and Xiao Wu had been a bit off since what happened yesterday.

"It's a spirit tool shop," I said, "but I didn't find anything I wanted, still, it's worth trying your hand."

We said our goodbyes and I asked around the market for directions, then eventually got them from a nice man selling sausages—though the townspeople seemed to avoid him like the plague.

I followed the path to find a long line of parents together with their children all in front of an old man massaging the children's hands.

I walked up to one such set of parent and child and asked if this was Shrek academy and got an affirmative. My mission done, I then turned to leave when…

"Little Jin!" said a girl.

I turned and saw said girl whose then up to her waist pink hair when I last saw her was now cut short to only up to her ears. Ah shit.

"Rongrong!" I said, "what the hell are you doing here?"

She stopped in front of me, cheeks flushed and her simple white sundress swaying in the small breeze, bringing with it the scent of mountain flowers—like aunt Yuehua's perfume. "I could say the same for you," she said with a smile.

"What about your grandpa Sword or grandpa Bone?" I looked around, and had there not been any witnesses, would've extended my Domain as well to detect for the two scary old-timers. Good lord, old people were real fierce in this world.

"They don't know I'm here," she said with a proud and triumphant smile, hands akimbo. Her fair skin and soothing voice created a gap with the scene, but cuteness was justice, and I felt like an old creep for feeling my cheeks warm to a kid.

"If they find you here with me," I said, "they'll roast me alive!"

She raised a hand to stop me from talking and said, "Nonsense! My word is law in the sect." She nodded before continuing, "So what are you doing here?"

I wanted to run away from here, but if I did I'd never hear the end of it from grandpa Shan, and it'd be worse if they found out Rongrong was the cause. "With hope, not the same purpose as you. I'm supposed to enroll into this Shrek academy with my cousin…s."

Xiao Wu was unofficially adopted by Tang San, and as the technical head of his household—since uncle Hao was in hiding, then yeah, he sort of had authority to do so.

Rongrong glared at me, and said, "As rude as ever I see." Then she smiled something fierce. "Maybe I _should_ tell grandpa Sword you were the one who told me to come here?"

I pursed my lips and said, "And indirectly confirm with your family that somehow you and I are _involved_?" I made sure to emphasize the last word.

She widened her eyes, with hope realizing what I said. "Such an assuming junior," she said, her tone agitated. "As if big sister here would look at someone younger than her." Rongrong crossed her arms and looked away.

Then it hit me that if anything bad happened to her then I was screwed given I knew she was here. Well fuck-a-doodle-doo then. I sighed and said, "Do you already have a place to stay? As your friend, I'm morally obliged" —under threat of death— "to keep you safe."

A bright pink iris peeked from silk white eyelid, then she said, "Who knew junior could be courteous as well?"

I returned to the inn with Rongrong to wait for Tang San and Xiao Wu.

As my cousin, and also involved with the Clear Sky sect—and Xiao Wu also involved by proxy, I told the two of my circumstance with the Seven Treasure school's little princess after that play date I had to take her to. It was all auntie's idea, and uncle Fengzhi had no qualms about it though that grandpa Sword of hers glared all throughout that trip down Merchant Lane and the light lunch we had in the Millennium Court. And to have a Titled Douluo constantly focus on you with his sharp aura was an experience I wasn't too fond of repeating.

The two arrived about an hour later to find me tinkering with some vials of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur, and Rongrong playing with a zither and humming to herself. Rongrong stared at the newcomers, then turned to me with a silent question, 'who.'"

"Why's your girlfriend here?" said Xiao Wu with a light dancing in her eyes. I sounded like she was over what happened yesterday already.

Rongrong yelped, ears going pink and the zither playing turned a wrong chord.

"She's not my girlfriend," I said, then turned to Rongrong, "this is my cousin Tang San, and his sister Xiao Wu."

"P-pleased to meet you," she said.

Whatever happened to that domineering attitude? "She's here to enroll into Shrek too, and I already know the way," I said. Rongrong cleared her throat. I wanted to groan but didn't. "She knows too."

Rongrong nodded with a smile. "Little Jin's told me all about you then?" she said to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu raised an eyebrow. "Yes, he _has_."

The two girls chuckled, and I mouthed 'save me' to Tang San but he just shook his head at me, lips pressed thin.

After that we all agreed to go to Shrek academy together, with me and Tang San walking behind the two girls happily chatting.

"She's a good person," Tang San said, "and this is the only time I've ever seen you so docile."

"Her grandfather is a Titled Douluo with a sword spirit, his focus alone feels like I'm being cut in half."

"Ah," said Tang San. "She's pretty though."

"I'm ten, brother," I said, "and she's twelve. Those matters are still so far ahead of me." I didn't say I wasn't even sure I'd live long enough to see that day given the dangers of this world. Hell, if normal people could become bandits, then what was stopping spirit masters from doing so? Just imagining a Titled Douluo mugging people was enough to make me want to ask for a karmic refund.

Tang San nodded to that.

"And besides," I said, "what about you and Xiao Wu?"

He coughed hard, and composed himself before saying, "She's my sister."

That clueless look in his eyes made me want to electrocute him just for the heck of it. I didn't know why, but the way Xiao Wu looked at him wasn't a way I'd ever associate a twelve-year-old to be capable of doing. The few times I'd caught her tugged at my heartstrings enough to make a grown-ass man like me wonder: how?

By the archway made of chopped wood and a badly painted signboard and drawing of a green monster, the words Shrek Academy were written, and we waited in line for our turn to get examined. The same ratty old man from this morning still sat in front, turning kids away for being too old or too weak, and next to him was a blonde teen with a fierce look in his eyes: one glaring red and one cool blue pupil sweeping back and forth and intimidating those parents who wanted to come back and complain.

Finally, when enough parents were crowding around the table, the old man stood up from his seat and shouted, "Shrek Academy only accepts monsters, if anyone here has spirit rank over twenty-five and is or below twelve years of age, step forward and I'll fast track you to the next exam."

The crowd of people all spoke up, some saying this was only a load of horse crap, or some saying this Shrek Academy was a scam, some even still were saying the old man was just looking for an excuse not to refund them their money. After all, ten gold spirit coins was still a lot of money.

"Come on," said Rongrong to the rest of us. "What are we waiting for?"

We walked up against the crowd with Rongrong leading the way, pushing away everyone else in front of us. Surprising though was no one seemed to mind, beautiful people sure had it easy.

But the crowd kept up their rousing, and the old man in front then glowed with a sinister grey—six rings emanating from his body: one white, one yellow, three purple, and one black. The man was apparently a Spirit Emperor despite looking like a farmer, and after that, no one else dared to speak.

We reached the end of the front, and that blonde teen stood from his seat and said, "Stop."

The old man turned to us, "Where are you four's parents?"

"We were told by our teacher to come here," said Tang San for us.

"Teacher?" the old man said. "No matter, what are your ranks and paths?"

The people there all looked at us, while that blond teen looked Rongrong up and down in a way I knew well. I frowned and stepped up in front of her.

That blonde teen glared at me and smirked, and I kept my face impassive—better practice caution until all hands were dealt.

Rongrong didn't protest and instead spoke up, "Rank twenty-sixth auxiliary system."

The old man stepped up to us and massaged her hand. "Alright, you pass little miss." He then looked at the rest of us.

"I'm next," I said, extending my hand to him, "almost twenty-seventh rank, uhh… control system, I think."

"You think?" said the old man. He then massaged my hand and his eyes widened and he had to take a step back before saying, "A little monster indeed."

Xiao Wu stepped up next and said, "Battle system, twenty-ninth rank."

She also passed, much to the ire of those waiting around us as murmurs and whispers started acting up.

Tang San's gaze swept across those people, and he released his spirit, the three rings floating behind him, one yellow and two purple. The pressure exuded from him again silenced those around us, and the old man as well shook his head at the sight. "Thirty-third rank… battle system."

"I don't even care what age," he said to Tang San. "You pass."

And just to add something extra, I also released mine, one half-purple and purple, and waved to the people we left behind with the sweetest smile I could manage, and the old man laughed as he faded from view.

On our way, we noticed another girl was now walking with us, but where Rongrong was like a breath of spring air, and Xiao Wu like the first day of summer, this girl was like the full moon against a backdrop of stars. She was surprisingly voluptuous for her age of at most twelve, which was probably related to her spirit. And as we walked, the blond teen next to us kept looking at her now instead of Rongrong. It didn't take a genius to figure out the girl's ire, so I also slowed my pace a bit to get in the way of the lecher's line of sight.

Again, the teen glared at me, while Rongrong raised an eyebrow before pinching my ear.

"What was that for?" I said.

She just stuck out her tongue.

"Tsk tsk," said Xiao Wu. "Little master shouldn't play with fire."

"Where'd you even learn about that kind of imagery," I retorted.

The teen brought us to a clearing where other kids were already waiting—and the old man I asked for directions was here, selling sausages of all things.

"Careful with those," said the blond.

The old man peddling sausages pushed his cart up to us as a heavy barbecue scent wafted in. "Get your Sausage Uncle Sausages here!"

Not one to shy away from a quick snack, Xiao Wu already bought one before the blond could stop her. He then shook the old man down.

"Little Ao, why don't you show these examinees how those are made?" The blond's smile would make milk curdle, and the Sausage Uncle just froze.

"Little?" I said. That either meant this uncle guy was actually young, or this blondie was real damn rude.

"He just grows his beard really fast," said blondie. Ah, okay, young then.

This little Ao then brought his hands together and moved them up and down in a very very familiar hand gesture and said, "I your father, has a big sausage." As light formed from within the ring his thumb and forefinger made, creating the same sausage he was now grilling.

The snack in Xiao Wu's hand fell to the ground, her mouth opening and closing as a red tinge travelled up her neck to her ears.

I laughed out loud and Tang San's glare stopped me cold, while Rongrong pinched my ear again and Xiao Wu kicked me in the shin. As I writhed in pain, blondie shook his head at little Ao and we then left him to his sausages, heh. Rongrong pinched my ear again.

Blondie led us ahead of the line, and those kids likewise complained but were again silenced by Tang San's and my rings.

"True to the word, little monsters indeed," said blondie with a smile.

Tang San walked next to him and said, "I'm finding these last few tests too easy, is it really alright for us to just pass like this?"

Blondie stared flat at him. "We just weeded out everyone else below the twenty-fifth rank and above twelve years of age, for you to find this easy just means you five qualify as you should."

"Logic checks out, brother," I said, nodding to blondie's statement.

Tang San smiled wryly at that.

"I don't believe we've been introduced yet," I said to the girl in black.

"Zhu Zhuqing," she said and just kept walking.

"Fair enough," I said, then pointed at each person, saying, "Tang Jin, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong."

Then blondie said, pointing at himself, "Dai Mubai."

But none of the girls paid him any attention.

The last test was in another clearing and here, was only a robust man with streaks of white appearing every now and then in his long hair, sitting in a chair.

"Teacher Zhao, we actually have a fourth test this year," Dai Mubai said. "And they were all fast tracked from the very first exam."

Zhao stood up and flexed his neck, load cracks sounding out. "We actually scored five little monsters?"

Dai Mubai then gestured at me and Tang San. "You should see what these two's spirits look like," he said.

Tang San and I shared a look and I shrugged, releasing my Crown and rings, and he did too.

"T-this is possible?" teacher Zhao said. "How?"

Tang San stared hard at him and said, "With difficulty."

I shuddered, remembering the shit I had to go through to get those damned rings. "So… much… goo…"

"What's with him?" said teacher Zhao.

Tang San snorted, and so did Xiao Wu, then he said, "I'm sorry teacher Zhao, but it's not my story to tell."

Zhao shrugged, not seeming to care. "Fine. I'm Zhao Wuji and I'll be your last examiner. Now then, what are your ranks and spirits?"

Rongrong was again the first to speak, "Twenty-sixth rank, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, auxiliary system."

"A direct disciple eh?" said Zhao, stroking his chin. "Excellent."

Tang San looked at me and I shook my head, and he nodded back. "Also, twenty-sixth rank, Amber Crown, control system."

"I've never heard of this spirit before," Zhao said.

Dai Mubai knit his brows at me and glared. "Neither have I."

I shrugged and said, "It's a variation."

"Of what?" Zhao Wuji said.

I willed my Hammer into my hands, black light surging forth. "Of the Clear Sky Hammer," I said.

Dai Mubai and Zhao Wuji's eyes went wide, and that big man said, "You're of the Clear Sky sect with twin spirits?"

I smiled back and said, "The one and only."

"So that's why," Rongrong muttered.

Zhao Wuji and Dai Mubai then turned to Tang San who said, "Oh, I'm an outer sect disciple. I'm thirty-third ranked Blue Silver Grass."

"What?" Zhao Wuji said, "Are you trying to joke with me?"

Tang San summoned a tuft of grass and showed it to the two with bewildered eyes, and likewise Rongrong was mesmerized too.

"And you?" Zhao Wuji said, turning to Xiao Wu.

"I'm nothing like those two," she said, "but I won't lose, twenty-ninth rank, Soft-boned Rabbit."

"And last?" said Dai Mubai—though why he was the one to do so was already weird enough.

Zhuqing shot a glare back at Mubai and said, "Twenty-seventh rank, Hell Civet."

Zhao crossed his arms and nodded. "Little Mu, are you sure you can take on either little San or little Jin?"

Dai Mubai smiled something fierce, "I'm confident of either one, but both would be asking for a bit much."

Zhao Wuji hummed in agreement, "Good, good, then let's do it like this, why don't you five try resisting my attacks for one stick of incense?" He wasn't smiling, and instead had on a serious expression. "I don't think Mubai alone will be enough to test you, and like this, as long as even one of you is left standing, then you all pass?"

I raised my hand, "I personally have no issues with this, and this way, Rongrong won't have to fight exactly either."

Zhao Wuji nodded hard. "A real man then. And the others?"

Xiao Wu and Tang San shared a look, and Tang San said, "Us two are also alright."

Zhuqing shrugged and said, "Fine."

"Such good little monsters," he said. He then lit a stick of incense, "You have this much time to strategize and plan, and I'll only use up to my fourth ring to attack to make it fair. Mubai, feel free to tell them everything."

The six of us huddled together, with Mubai making sure he stood next to Zhuqing—she was rather peeved but it was just for a few minutes.

"Alright, best lay down all your abilities now," said Mubai. "You'll need as much team work as you can muster to win against teacher Zhao. He is a seventy-sixth ranked spirit sage whose spirit is the Vigorous Vajra Bear, and it excels in both attack and defense. His first four abilities are in order: a reinforcement ability, a ranged attack ability, an ability for increasing gravity, and another for orienting himself to a target's position."

Tang San spoke first, "I can perform poisoned ranged attacks and bind for control using grass."

Xiao Wu went next, "My abilities are for close combat and I have a charm ability for distractions."

Rongrong spoke next, "I am able to boost up to thirty percent both attack power and speed."

I went next and said, "My Crown has a domain and it can both eat a target's spirit power and impede movement with electricity while my Hammer has a ranged attack and an empowered strike."

Dai Mubai shook his head. "And with two thousand year rings as well…"

"Eh, nah, the other one's just around nine-hundred something."

"Close enough," Rongrong said.

"Jin will lead the attack," said Tang San, "and Xiao Wu and Zhuqing will be at his flanks and launch attacks at any opportunity they get, while I will be behind Jin and launching ranged attacks with Rongrong far behind me."

"I agree with this formation," I said. "Any other suggestions?"

No one raised any other suggestions, so we proceeded to arrange our formation to face Zhao Wuji: three attackers in front, one mid-ranger and short-stop, and one last for support.

"You already finished preparing?" said Zhao Wuji, taking out another stick of incense. Judging from the size of that, it was gonna burn for a good three minutes.

"As ready as we'll ever be," I said, bringing out both my Hammer and Crown, black and gold lights twining around me.

Xiao Wu released her spirit, and her ears and legs elongated, while Zhuqing grew claws and ears and her outline seemed to blur. I turned back and saw Rongrong with a jeweled tower like thing floating on her hands, as a rainbow's worth of colors shone from her body, while the grass around Tang San started swing left and right, looking like flickering blue flames.

Zhao Wuji threw his incense at a three and it embedded itself there, already burning. He then released his spirit, his body growing a solid two inches and all his muscles enlarging, as seven rings appeared in order: two yellow, two purple, three black.

"Begin," he said, as a yellow ring shone and his body expanded further muscles all seeming like they'd burst and him growing another three to four inches.

I immediately shone Devour and Shock at him, and his expression seemed to change. After getting my next ring, Devour's rate also increased, and now, it was enough to make uncle Zhi feel something significant. Then some foreign power entered me and the warm trickle of spirit power from me ignited into a blaze, as the gold light of my Domain became more vibrant.

"Come at me old man," I shouted, as my blood started to boil. I charged towards him, and he charged in kind, a feral smile plastered all over his face.

"Don't disappoint me now, Clear Sky boy," he said, laughing.

"Seven days of creation, first festival," said Rongrong's bell-like voice. "Strength."

I pushed Devour and Shock as hard as I could, consuming spirit power almost as fast as I could replenish it as Zhao Wuji appeared in front of me Zhuqing and Xiao Wu stepped forward diagonally to get his flanks. I erupted with Disorder Splitting Wind's first swing, reinforcing it with Thunder Heart Strike as a layer of electricity covered my Hammer.

Zhao Wuji's palm struck out—but a white flash met his open palm as two black shadows aimed straight for his eyes.

The Spirit Sage's attack deviated for a moment as he had to dodge those sinister needles, and I collided with that tree trunk of an arm. It felt like I'd struck a cliff's broad side but the enhanced burst power from Thunder Heart Strike and Rongrong's boost lashed out and pushed back Zhao Wuji's arm somewhat, so I recovered into the second swing, but the weight of the world suddenly pulled me down and I lost my trail of momentum as the Hammer's path was thrown off balance.

A blue strand then pulled me away from the crashing meteor, but a flurry of sharp black wisps attacked Zhao Wuji's flank, making him turn just in time for me to clear away—then a blast of pink light hit him—Xiao Wu's Charm ability—and he seemed to stumble.

I then regained my balance and the strand of blue now tied itself to Zhao Wuji's legs, and I rode the increased gravity to spin my Hammer once before lashing out with another thunder strike to Zhao's knees. He was leagues stronger than me anyway, he can take that much.

Zhao Wuji moved his leg just in time despite the binding, and my Hammer crashed into the ground and sent a shockwave upwards, sending him completely off balance. The gravity returned to normal, and he extended a hand down that was met half-way up by a white sword—that finally drew blood. Like Tang San said, kindness to one's enemy was cruelty to one's self, so I got back up and again erupted with the first swing.

Zhao Wuji broke the white sword with sheer spirit power density and pushed off the ground but had his knee clipped by a rushing black lance and he had to block a third Thunder Heart Strike in an off position.

I contacted his arms, and pushed him completely into the ground to a bed of white swords as black needles flew in from everywhere imaginable, even going around me only to change trajectory again to strike at him. Like a majestic salmon amidst a river of black I struck out with the second swing—a fourth Thunder Heart Strike as my spirit power dwindled close to half. Each use of my Hammer's second skill consumed a solid twelve percent relative to my total.

Just as I was about to make contact, another flurry of shadows approached towards Zhao Wuji's head as the same blast of pink appeared from the side.

Then… his black ring shone.


	13. Chapter 13

Under that black glow, the ground I stood on left my feet as I hurtled into Zhao Wuji's body together with Zhuqing and Xiao Wu like rag dolls against a brick wall.

Spirit masters needed to learn to deal with the unthinkable, and a bastard cheating was one such occasion. And, as grandpa Lin taught me before, there were two ways to deal with your opponent's decisive move: defend, or counter—and without any way to defend, my choice was obvious.

I retracted my Domain to wrap only around the bastard, pulling on Devour for more and pushing Shock to maximum output as I peeled myself off Zhao Wuji's body, making sure to keep the girls from my light. I then brought my Hammer up, ready to strike at close range as I poured half of my remaining spirit power into a fourth Thunder Heart Strike.

When a gigantic arm stopped my spirit cold and the overwhelming pressure forced my ability back, causing a backlash of spirit power and electricity to riddle my body. But a surge of red light helped me keep my wits, I grit my teeth through the pain and lashed out with a Bullet, sending me deeper into the red.

"Enough," Zhao Wuji shouted as the force of it dispelled my black bolt, and the crushing attractive force let off.

I fell from where I was stuck against his chest, my Hammer leaving a deep dent against the carpet of grass, and Zhuqing and Xiao Wu broke free and both skipped back a few steps.

"The test is over," Zhao Wuji said, as his spirit transformation receded and the man-bear reverted to that bear of a man.

With the crisis averted, I was finally able to catch my breath as the strain hit all at once. I then retracted Devour and Shock, Zhao Wuji's face easing as that golden light left him, and instead spread it out as far as I could into the air and surrounding plant life, taking only as much as I needed to recover. The gut wrenching feeling subsided somewhat as the energy trickled in.

I dispelled my Hammer and tried sitting up, my body creaking with odd noises. I gave up a breath later and lied back down, only now noticing how all around us were Tang San's jeweled swords and black needles all hanging in the air and aiming for Zhao Wuji, their sharpened edges glinting with the furious red of Rongrong's first boost.

When the light from them faded, the cloud of missiles fell lifelessly to the ground.

Zhao Wuji held out a hand to me, helping me stand before turning to Tang San and saying, "Blue Silver Grass, where did your poison come from?"

Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, Rongrong, and Tang San all retracted their spirits, the array of lights giving way to the overbearing white of day, and walked over to where I sat. Tang San then nodded and said, "My poison came from a thousand-year Spiteful Velvet Machineel, and its potency increases with each next ring."

"And those white daggers of yours?" said Zhao Wuji.

"They came from a Jeweled Daffodil Mantis," Tang San said, "almost four-thousand-years."

Dai Mubai walked over to us shaking his head, saying, "What sort of magic did have to use?"

Tang San smiled and said, "A lot of effort and luck."

That was as blatant a lie as I'd ever heard. I limped over to where the rest stood, and Rongrong helped support me.

"A real genius then," said Zhao Wuji. He then turned to me. "And you, Clear Sky boy? Your rings?"

I straightened myself up before saying, "Almost one-thousand-year Iron Spider-wasp, and almost two-thousand-year Thunder Heart Moth."

"On where?"

"On both."

Zhao Wuji laughed, saying, "Then you're a fool for not saving one spirit until later."

I summoned my Hammer again and pointed at my Crown with it, making sure everyone saw the two rings. "Whoever said I had twin spirits?"

"You don't?" said Rongrong, and the way she tilted her head made her look all sorts of precious.

The others all looked at me save for Tang San and Xiao Wu.

"I'm the heir of the sect," I said, "of course I can't be normal."

Revealing so was all part of the plotting between uncle Xiaogang, my grandpas, father, Tang San, and me. And Rongrong unfazed meant she'd weeded it out of auntie before, or someone else from her clan had.

As the next in line of the Clear Sky school, my status was one where touching me was like incurring the wrath of the rest of the sect, while at the same time sending a subtle message of desperation. How pitiful was the sect to send its little master out so young and with only an outer sect disciple as company?

Merged spirits gave me the advantage of unbelievably fast growth with each ring, but it was also my limit. Unlike Tang San who had the possibility of eighteen spirit rings in total, I couldn't afford to do the same. So, what I couldn't have in quantity, I'd have to make up for with quality.

My mission then was to spread my name as far and wide as possible while father prepared the rest of our family for the coming reemergence, and making sure our front village was all the world could see. The turning point then for all this was how fast Tang San and I could reach the Titled Douluo realm, and how well I could remove attention from him without incurring Spirit Hall's wrath.

"Fine then you little monster," said Zhao Wuji, and brought up his wounded hand. It glowed a bright white and he struck his chest hard with it and spat out some blood, then the grass it hit started crackling and burning. "So that's why your electricity stayed," he said. "It suits your personality."

I stuck my tongue out at him, and he turned to Mubai saying, "Go and call little Ao, Blue Silver Grass' poison was really nasty and I'd sooner take care of it now."

Mubai nodded and ran back into the forest, sparing Zhuqing who until now hadn't spoken, a glance.

Xiao Wu then put her hands to her hips, saying, "Only asking these two freaks for their rings but not me?"

Zhao Wuji grunted, and said, "You lucked out with the Clear Sky brat taking the beating for all of you. If you ask me, the only ones who truly passed were Blue Silver Grass, the Seven Treasure girl, and him. You, rabbit, and the cat only served as distractions at best."

Rongrong spoke up, "I believe that is unfair, teacher."

Zhao Wuji glared at her but said nothing, and Tang San raised his hand.

"But teacher Zhao," Tang San said, "if not for their timely distractions, could we have been able to erupt as we did?"

"He's right," I said. It was unfair of Zhao Wuji to downplay the two's roles. "I would've been turned into a pancake if it hadn't been for Xiao Wu and Zhuqing's timely attacks."

Xiao Wu crossed her arms and grunted, while Zhuqing stepped up. "If there is doubt," she said, "then let me retake the test."

But before Zhao Wuji could say anything, a flurry of feathers and plentiful spirit pressure landed in the middle of our discussion, revealing a portly man with a pair of glasses after his spirit had retracted. I recognized him as the owner of that spirit tool shop earlier, and Tang San seemed to notice as well. The newcomer wore a simple set of brown robes, well-worn and faded, and had sharp eyes like a bird of prey, just as his entrance suggested.

"Such a petty man," he said, "this Zhao Wuji." The person in question's complexion became pale, and whoever this bird person was, he was at least stronger than the Spirit Sage he talked down. "To go back on your word," the man continued, "against a bunch of kids who hadn't even known each other for more than an hour, and more than that to tell two of them they shouldn't have passed after losing? Why, you'll make this Shrek Academy of mine lose face, Zhao Wuji."

Zhao Wuji bowed with his hands together in front of him, saying, "Principal Flender, those three I mentioned were simply too exceptional, of course I'd be partial towards them. Two even have one-thousand-year second rings, you couldn't blame me for that."

Flender sighed while massaging his temples. "Ah, such a fool you are," he said. "To see only what is shining but not what is there, tell me, wasn't it this genius monster of yours who also admitted to the value of those two's contributions."

I nodded, and said, "You can't deny that even if their attacks were nuisances, they still distracted you long enough to stop what you were doing."

Xiao Wu pouted, and Zhuqing's neutral expression turned into a small but visible frown.

Zhao Wuji grunted, "Fine, he said, I know when I'm defeated."

This was also when Mubai arrived with little Ao in tow, beard and cart and all.

"I've brought Oscar," he said, eyes again finding Zhuqing's form.

Oscar pushed his cart up front, shooting everyone a smile through his smooth and full beard, saying, "Did anyone ask for fresh sausages?"

"Bah," Zhao Wuji said, "little Ao, come and give me two each of both your sausages. This burning poison is grating at my good graces."

Oscar smiled wide and made the same motions as before, one hand forming a big sausage, the other a small and wrinkled one. "One big recovery sausage and one detoxifying sausage!"

Zhao Wuji snatched the questionable meat products and shoved them in his mouth, chewing up both sausages and swallowing them together. Like watching a flip book, his open wound started knitting itself before my very eyes and the dark bags under them faded, indicating the poison disappearing from his system.

Flender cleared his throat, and said, "Little Ao, would you also provide little Jin here with a recovery sausage?"

"Of course, principal," he said, and no sooner did a six-inch long meat stick find its way into my hands. The size and weight of it made it look like I was holding onto a dildo, and the actions it took to produce the damn thing made everything else all the sketchier, but the evidence of its efficacy couldn't be denied.

"Go on," Flender said, and looking to the side, Zhao Wuji already looked as fit as a fiddle.

All eyes were on me, Xiao Wu and Rongrong both with expressions half-way between sheer disgust and morbid curiosity, and Tang San and Zhuqing keeping firm to their neutral states. Mubai however, was clearly against the entire thing, somewhat red in the cheeks.

"Fuck this," I muttered under my breath and bit into the sausage.

The casing exploded together with the juices, a bit salty and rich in beefy and porky tastes. There was a hint of sour and higher notes of garlic, and the entire experience reminded me of eating Schubligs—as memories of the life I've left behind eased out of the woodwork. That time I camped out with my friends back in college, some trip to the deli with mom, a ball game I went to with my girlfriend back in high school, it was the everyday kinds of memories I never really paid attention to but still know is there.

I sighed, letting the familiar throes of being all too aware of how I both belonged and didn't to this world, as my roiling gut eased, and the nausea from spirit power deprivation subsided. "If you can get past the vulgar manner of production," I said, "you'd be surprised at how good the effects are."

A fierce light flashed through Rongrong's crystal clear eyes, but she only kept up her silent role, as I put less and less of my weight on her with the ongoing effects of Oscar's sausage.

"What did you expect?" said Flender with a smirk. "My Shrek Academy only accepts monsters, so of course you'd also only meet other monsters, you little monsters."

No other students passed the entrance ceremony after that, and the few that got through the second and third exams fell to Dai Mubai's last test. The five of us new students then walked together with the rest of the faculty and older students back to the little cluster of cottages they all called home.

#

Flender assigned us our rooms, the three new girls were to all share in the biggest cottage, and me and Tang San were to share a room. Mubai and Oscar bunked in with a third student, while the teachers all had their own little huts each. Breakfast was served on the first bell of morning, and classes could happen any time after that. Our orientation could wait until tomorrow to allow us new students time to adjust.

That night, me, Tang San, and Xiao Wu all met at a small clearing by the woods to discuss what happened during the day, sitting around a trio of logs I illuminated with my Crown.

"Rongrong showing up was completely outside our expectations," I said. "But she shouldn't complicate any matters."

A smile played along Xiao Wu's lips, and she chuckled before saying, "Of course you'd be the one to say that, defending your lady, and have you also noticed there was no surprise in her when you revealed your status as heir?"

I frowned at her. "Please, sister," I said—of course it followed that I'd call her that way after calling her _brother_ the same. "Those were all from auntie's scheming, and I wouldn't be surprised if the information was mixed into that as well."

"Still," she said, "you don't push her away."

"I have no reason to," I said.

"Because you don't dislike it."

Tongue in cheek, I replied, "Of course, I don't. There's nothing to dislike."

She just nodded while smiling, humming to herself after.

Tang San then stopped his polishing of his precious hidden weapons, his so-called Bone Piercing Needles, glinting against the golden light of my aura, and said, "Rongrong seems to be fond of you."

I groaned into my hands, "Please brother, don't add to this."

Tang San just smiled. "Thinking of the future of the sect is also important," he said. "And we've just felt how formidable the Seven Treasure Pagoda spirit is, allowing a group of thirty and twenty something spirit masters to concern a seventy-sixth rank Spirit Sage."

Xiao Wu nodded hard to that, and I couldn't help but agree. With a sigh, I said, "But let's not push anyone towards anything, alright? The future of the sect is indeed something to consider, and the benefits to both would be great, but we also should consider the feelings of the people involved." Namely because I'd technically be a pedophile for getting it on with a girl about twenty-nine years younger than my mental age.

She was pretty and cute, and her personality was also one I didn't disagree with, but thinking of all this was too soon. Perhaps when we were all older I wouldn't feel like this anymore, but for now, I couldn't help it.

I waved my hands in front of me. "Let's move on to the next topic please."

"Fine," said Xiao Wu, but her smile never left.

I nodded, and said, "That much was to be expected, but what surprised me was Zhuqing. Brother San, did uncle Xiaogang have any information in his lectures about this spirit?"

Tang San shook his head. "It's not the first time I've heard of it, but it doesn't tie the spirit to a certain identity like our clan's or Rongrong's."

A dead-end then. "And what about for that Dai Mubai's Evil Eyes White Tiger and Oscar's Sausage?"

"The Evil Eyes White Tiger is tied to Star Luo's royal family so we may expect Mubai to be some non-inheriting member to be out here, though it's also possible he's here to avoid any wary eyes. This Suotuo is near the edges of Heaven Dou's own territory, and near enough for about a month's journey to be back by their empire, and less than that if travelling with all spirit masters."

I nodded. "Then we should be wary of him."

Tang San rubbed his chin with an idle hand, the other fingering his shining needle and storing it back into his spirit tool. "I believe it should be find even if we didn't."

Xiao Wu raised an eyebrow and said, "But wouldn't the support of another empire be good if ever?"

"I agree," I said, "even if he isn't a direct inheritor, he should still be of direct descent."

Tang San smiled wryly. "Direct descent doesn't necessarily mean his words have weight, only with extraordinary circumstances is that ever true."

Xiao Wu pursed her lips, her sing-song mood turning flat.

"Ah, crap," I said, "you're not wrong there."

Tang San nodded and said, "I'm only so fortunate my family is willing to hear me out. Alright, enough of that. Zhao Wuji, then, and any plans on your next rings?"

Xiao Wu stuck her tongue out. "I'd rather keep that a secret," she said with a sweet smile.

Tang San shrugged, but there was neither frustration or any misgivings in his obviously fond gaze. Still so young and already wrapped around her finger, ah, truly the beauty of youth.

"I just hope I've finally moved on from insects," I said.

The two said nothing to that—but Xiao Wu broke out into a giggling fit, and that marked the end of our little meeting.

We went back to the ring of houses to find Rongrong still up and outside their new cottage.

"Hello Rongrong," said Xiao Wu. "Jin here had a lot to say about you."

She raised an eyebrow at that and glared at me, and I face palmed. "And?" she said.

"He was surprised you weren't surprised to find out he was the Clear Sky sect's heir," Xiao Wu said with a smile.

I looked at Tang San and he looked away, saying as if he wanted to wash his hands of this.

Rongrong smiled something devious and said, "You shouldn't underestimate the princess of the Seven Treasure sect either."

"Was it auntie?" I said.

Her eye twitched, unconcealable beneath my Crown, and said, "No."

I really need to have a word with her when I can. "And I suppose she'd also sold to you the idea of _something_?"

Xiao Wu started giggling, and a slight pink creeped up Rongrong's ears. "Hmph," she said, turning away with her arms crossed. "Such a precocious junior."

With hope, that meant something along the lines of a 'no, that's not an option' and whether for now or for life didn't matter much to me at the moment.

Xiao Wu excused herself to retire and Rongrong followed, so Tang San and I went to our room as well.

I plopped down on the bed I carried in my storage ring, nestling myself in the fine silk covers I spent a relative fortune on. Since I could pretty much carry whatever I wanted, I always made sure to travel with my actual furniture, or at least what I deemed my non-negotiables, namely, my four-poster bed and many pillows and fine blankets.

One side of the room was bare save for that majestic bed, and the other had some modest furnishings, and a host of goods fit for a smithy. The only real thing Tang San spent his money on was a portable smith's table and forge, which he was adamant on procuring when we chanced upon it in Heaven Dou empire's auction house.

"Little Jin," he said, again inspecting one of his newer needles, the supposed Blood Groove Spine Needles. "How much iron mother do you still have in stock?"

Our deal from way back continued to now: me getting him his metals, and him arming me and Xiao Wu and the rest of our clan and loved ones. This sort of knowledge existed nowhere else, and so, the only real conclusion was to call bullshit on this guy's existence. Though, _actually_ calling him out did me no good, and likewise, him finding out about my circumstance wasn't something value adding either.

So instead, I just went with it, giving him all he needed. Though his use of these Hidden Weapons as he called them was just too difficult. Xiao Wu took to it with a passion, heh, though we did however have some mutual understanding when it came to martial arts, so I guess that tipped him on with my situation as well.

"I still have about ten jin left," I said, calling forth the stored metals. Tang San then stored him to his belt. "We should stock up soon."

He nodded, and produced a leather wrapped package, then unfurled it to reveal a host of other masterfully formed projectile weapons: Swallow-tail Knives, Heavy Star Darts, Rising Dragon Needles, and a bunch of yellow droplet things.

I got off my bed and walked over to get a closer look at those amber-like crystals. "What are these?"

Tang San smiled and picked one up, and that crystal straightened out into a ten-centimeter long fine needle. Ah, forever the weapons nut, I should've known better. "These are called Dragon Beard Whiskers, and they have a sinister mechanism to them."

His hand holding the needle flashed, then one of my bed's drapes curled into a tight knot. Tang San then walked over and showed me the damage—fuck—that amber like crystal as knurled and twisted around the fine silks. He then touched it with his hands, and the crystal turned into a needle once more.

"Sorry," he said, "I… got a little excited there."

"It's fine," I said, "and I can see now why."

He then took out another leather wrapped package, this one smaller than his batch of Hidden Weapons. "I've also finished with that request of yours," he said.

Elation, maybe, rose from my chest, and I unwrapped that package. "You actually finished them," I said.

On our little table was a set of tools never before seen in this world: a pair of plies, a clawed hammer, a screwdriver, a crowbar, and a survival knife, all delicately decorated with Tang San's personal brand, and made with the best steel I could get. A smaller pouch contained the other goods I asked for: screws and nails, turnbuckles, pulleys, and casters, but these ones were less intricate.

"Your drawings were perfect," he said, "and those things you called tweezers helped greatly with handling my mechanism type Hidden Weapons."

I held the knife in my hands, its weight perfectly balanced. "I'm more amazed you were able to do these at all."

He smiled and said, "Never underestimate the son of a blacksmith."

I then stored my new tools, and went back to my bed. "Zhao Wuji," I said. "We never stood a chance, did we?"

"No," Tang San said, not stopping his tinkering. "Rongrong's spirit is truly too precious."

I turned in my bed, lying on my side. "And she's still only at just before the thirtieth rank."

Melodious metallic dings and clicks sounded.

"Such is the reason their school can survive with just two Titled Douluo guarding their halls," Tang San said, those sonorous sounds continuing in the background.

"Yes," I said, remembering the painstaking efforts the clan had to pull to cultivate five Titled Douluos. "But to marry her out of obligation would be… sad."

Tang San said nothing for a while, and when those wind-chime like symphony stopped, his chair creaked, then he said, "Here."

I turned in time to see an unassuming box flying towards me, and I brought out my Crown and Hammer, ready to receive an attack.

But it landed harmlessly onto my bed.

And I knew better than that, I got off my precious baby and stood my ground, ready to lash out with my spirit power any second.

"Whoa there little Jin" said Tang San, "that's a present of mine for you."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Thanks to those pliers and tweezers of yours, I was able to complete that earlier than I thought possible," he said with a wry smile. "That is called a Godly Zhuge Crossbow, and as much as I'd like to show you how to use it, it would be better to do it in the morning instead."

I inched closer to that intricate box—remembering all the times I almost had my nuts or nipples pierced by Tang San's Hidden Weapons, because he'd never use them on Xiao Wu, and stored it inside my ring using my Domain. Safely stored, I relaxed and got back to my bed.

"Please don't do that again" I said.


	14. Chapter 14

The following morning, I woke up together with Tang San: him to do his daily morning thing, and me because it was a habit from my previous life I never got over.

From a corner of my vision, a silent four in the morning blinked into view, Interface showing me a small glimpse of home. I got up from bed and stored it safely away in Inventory, then got dressed in some loose clothes for some light exercise, filling my body with spirit power after getting out of the house.

A cool and crisp breeze greeted me, and I set about a light jog amidst the glinting grasses beneath my feet. Shoes here were made of straw soles with sturdy woven cotton for the upper, so running was a bit of a drag when it came to rocky terrain. Here though, in the forest, here was perfect.

I summoned my Crown as I took that next step, relishing the slight vertigo that came with the increase in perception. Trails of warmth raced down my legs as strength and confidence built up in my limbs. I breathed in the fresh air.

Thanks to that fight yesterday, I was able to breakthrough to the twenty-seventh rank.

Power, almost tangible, exploded as grass and dirt gave way behind me. I shot forward into the still dark morning, illuminated only by a wisp of gold. The trees became crisp flashes of brown against the singular glow, with me weaving in and out of their branches and over roots. Dishing out more spirit power, I remembered how Rongrong's light made me feel as if I could shake the world.

I jumped above the tops of the trees, landing with light steps on the tips of my toes on their branches. No amount of exercise from back home would ever let me do this, and to be able to do so now was a pleasure unlike any other.

As I accelerated more, I'd hook my hands onto branches to redirect momentum, sometimes flipping with cartwheels or somersaults to carry through longer gaps. Parkour was an art I could only dream of doing in my past life, but here, I was so much more.

My body was light, and the increase in rank came with a rush of sensations to get used to again. My Crown seemed more vibrant and clearer, and my Hammer that much heavier. I hadn't cultivated yet since arriving in Suotuo, so maybe I should when I got the chance. Using my spirit power right now, it felt… deeper somehow.

When the first drop of sweat trailed down my brows, I pushed another chunk of spirit power into my legs and shot into the hard-packed road, leaving the forest and running to a horse's pace against the highway. The city was just a few kilometers away, and around this time was just right for the earliest merchants to arrive or get ready for their day.

A good twenty minutes later, I found myself in the middle of a small but bustling city square. My face was caked with dust, and my brown clothes now had still drying patches of sweat. Totally not a little master at all. I took my sweet time walking around the streets, the academy a small but ever present thought at the back of my head. Fresh fruit from the countryside sat on shaded carts, while animal carcasses hung from strong steel hooks still fresh with blood. The sun hadn't come up yet over the distant mountains, but people were already talking here and there, haggling when they could; and those tell-tale rings and dings from the blacksmiths echoed every now and then.

I went for those peddling on animal pulled carts, the ones just looking to sell off a quick buck before resuming their way, and found an old man selling ores.

"Good morning uncle!" I greeted.

"Hello little one," he said. He was sitting at the front while his daughter, I think, sat in the back, handling the sacks of rocks.

"How much could I trouble you for some ores?" I said, pulling out a small writ I purchased off a wily merchant back in the capital. It was a counterfeit token of the merchant guild's trusted customers, and it was more than enough to use in these small towns for some street cred. The original I could get for myself after establishing a publicized trade partnership, but as someone in a sect-in-hiding and supposedly poor, doing so was out of the question.

The man smiled, and I walked away three kilos of tungsten and five of platinum heavier.

After that, the next peddler I found dealt me eight kilos of tungsten and twenty of iron, and some of the shops with actual stalls gave out a total of seven of tungsten, four of platinum, and forty-seven of iron. With my purse cleaned out, it was time to make a quick buck buying and selling some random goods: textiles from Henan, grain from Runing, spices from Ninxia, paper and ink from Jiading, seeds from Songjiang, to name a few.

I finished at around seven, with some of my losses recovered, but not all. Stockpiling more goods would need to wait a few more days before I really cashed out. I did another few rounds to take note of what was where, and I made my way back to the academy just in time to arrive for breakfast at just before eight.

"Little Jin!" said Mubai, wolfing down a bowl of porridge. "Come eat with us."

The school rented the houses in this quiet corner of Suotuo village, and hired some of the villagers to clean and cook.

Mubai sat across from Zhuqing who was looking away from him, while Rongrong sat next to her playing with her food. Oscar was nowhere to be seen, and the last student we hadn't met yet wasn't here yet either. Tang San and Xiao Wu apparently went to check the rest of the village just a few minutes ago.

"Why are you so dirty?" asked Rongrong, eyebrows in a knot. "And at so early too."

The only thing spirit power couldn't do was keep me from looking like a hobo. "I was out in the city," I said with a shrug.

She narrowed her eyes at that. "Suotuo city?"

I nodded.

Rongrong sighed, and splayed her fair and smooth arms out in stark contrast over the dark table. "This place is really too bland, at least take me with you next time."

Zhuqing was looking at us, silently eating her food, and Mubai was the one to follow-up. "Are you two together?" he asked, all serious and sincere.

Rongrong and I just stared back at him, and she said, "He's younger than me."

"He is?" said Mubai, eyes wide.

Zhuqing remained deadpan next to him.

"I am," I said, and sat down across Rongrong. A bowl of porridge then found its way to my spot. "Thank you," I told the kind lady.

"By how much?" Zhuqing asked, she had a raspy voice on the edge of puberty, and judging from her well-developed curves, she'd be done with the phase earlier than others might.

"Two years," I said.

"And how long have you two known each other?" asked Mubai, leaning in close.

I looked over at Rongrong, who said, "Was it five years now?"

"Just about to turn six in a few months," I added. "Big sister Rongrong was really mean when I first saw her."

Rongrong's ears went pink a bit, and her indignant smile turned into a visible frown on her doll-like face. She then crossed her arms and scoffed, saying, "And junior here was so rude, offering some dirty gem to a princess."

I rested my elbows against the table, and smiled at her. "And yet you wear a pair of ruby earrings."

Her pinkish tone deepened into a warmer shade, but something else took everyone's attention.

"Such a vulgar chicken!" said Xiao Wu, cheeks puffed and somewhat red in the face.

She was walking barefoot with Tang San placating her towards the simple cottage us four were eating in. They reached our long table, and the two took their seats by the end: Xiao Wu next to Rongrong, and Tang San next to me.

"To think he'd go after that girl in broad daylight!" Xiao Wu said. The bowl of porridge she got sat untouched in front of her.

"What's got Xiao Wu in a fit?" asked Rongrong, leaning over to me.

"How would I know," I whispered back after meeting her half-way. She nudged me with her shoulder before sitting back down.

But Mubai beat us to the punch. "What's this about a chicken?" he said.

Xiao Wu's frown directed its fury at Mubai, and Tang San seemed relieved at finally leaving her ire. "Some vulgar bag of hot air dared act so inappropriately so early in the morning, and to chase skirts so blatantly after breaking up, that fatty sure had some nerve."

I looked at Tang San who nodded back, Xiao Wu was telling the truth. "I guess you met the third student then?"

Xiao Wu narrowed her eyes at that. "I guess we did," she said, her voice a bone chilling cold.

Mubai shook his head before saying, "Little Jin was right, I think. If you were talking about some fatty calling himself a phoenix but looks like a free-range chicken and chasing after women, then that could only be Ma Hongjun."

Tang San nodded again at that, and said, "He was thrown around by Xiao Wu, though he should be alright."

Mubai shook his head harder and groaned. "Did he make a move on her?" he asked.

Tang San shook his head furiously.

"He can try," said Xiao Wu, cracking her knuckles with a murderous shine in her eyes.

A bell then sounded a few ways away, and we new students all turned towards the direction of the sound.

"That should be the first class," said Mubai, "we should go."

He ushered us all to the main clearing, Rongrong walking next to me while Tang San and Xiao Wu walked as a pair. Every now and then Mubai would look back to Zhuqing at the very back of the line, and every now and then I'd hear her tsk with each glance.

We arrived to find Oscar already standing on attention, his full beard already shaved clean.

"Who's that?" asked Rongrong.

"Err, that's that big sausage uncle from yesterday," I said.

"Oh," she said.

Oscar waved over to us, and he looked rather girlish with his soft looking eyes and clear, pale complexion. He definitely had a higher spirit power rank than normal, and judging by his height, he was almost as tall as Mubai, and taller than Tang San. Spirit masters matured faster than normal people, and it was also this reason why Zhuqing already had the figure she had.

We all fell in line, at mostly the same order: Mubai at the furthest right, then Oscar, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Me, Rongrong, and Zhuqing. After that, and like Mubai described, came a rather pudgy boy no older than Tang San jogging through the grass. Xiao Wu's eyes trained on him, and the devious glint in them made me fear for the guy's life. Vengeance was something the girl enjoyed, and her growing together with the mild-mannered Tang San said more about him than it did her. And adding my knowledge of him and those hidden weapons, then all it boiled down to was don't fuck with him, or Xiao Wu.

"Good to see you're here, fatty," said Mubai.

"Boss Dai, why didn't you say we had such pretty new students?" said Ma Hongjun, looking Zhuqing and Rongrong over with a pair of familiar eyes.

I stepped in front of Rongrong and Zhuqing, not really minding the guy's clear displeasure. Guy's doing that here was something I'd never get used to.

"This junior thinks himself proud, eh?" said Ma Hongjun, staring me down. "Why don't I, your father, show you a few pointers?"

Mubai rolled his eyes and said, "If you really have the balls to challenge the Clear Sky sect's next master and the Seven Treasure clan's princess, then be my guest."

I waved at Ma Hongjun with dainty fingers, and smiled, but Rongrong couldn't keep up the act and sneered his way. That… was an expression I didn't dislike on her. He kept mum after that, and a moment later, in came Flender walking on short legs, his sharp glasses shining against the morning sun. His tattered robes swayed against the ground when he stopped.

"Good morning, students," he said.

We all bowed and said our greetings as one.

"In a moment, we'll collect your tuition of one hundred gold coins, and you seniors should explain to your juniors the rules. Oscar and Rongrong, you stay behind, everyone else can go rest. We'll have your lessons later tonight."

As someone indirectly responsible for Rongrong's well-being—and mine—I was morally obliged to stay and listen. Tang San and Xiao Wu stayed as well, but Mubai, Hongjun, and Zhuqing all left as soon as they could. Flender looked us three still here a glance but didn't say any more.

He cleared his throat and said, "You two are auxiliary spirit masters, one is empowerment, and the other is food system. On the battlefield, your true worth is behind your allies, supporting them; and on your own, you still cannot defend yourselves, thus your biggest limitation."

The two nodded, with Tang San paying close attention.

"But even alone," Flender said, "there is a skill you must always polish, and never forget." He looked at the two. "Can you tell me what that is?" He turned to Rongrong.

"A good eye for the tide of battle," she said, "and a cautious eye ready for trouble." She looked over at me before looking back at Flender.

"Good," he said, then turned to Oscar. "And you?"

"Understanding one's limits," said Oscar. "We can only help our allies by as much as we can help ourselves, and the less effort they spend protecting us, the more effort they can spend on attacking."

Images of that examination with Zhao Wuji flashed past in my head, Rongrong's light adding depth to my own.

"Both good answers," he said.

Then I raised my hand.

"Does the Clear Sky boy have something to say?" he said, somewhat amused from the sound of it.

As someone who has tried sparring with Titled Douluos before, there was only one real thing to do when faced with an attack from them. "I'd say running away is the best skill to have for any system."

Flender laughed and said, "That's rich coming from the sect's heir." But the light in his eyes said otherwise. "Well said," he said with a smile.

"I've had my fair share of troubles," I added. Hitting grandpa Shan in the nuts accidentally counted on that. "And the only true way to avoid damage from an attack is to not get hit at all."

Oscar and Rongrong both nodded.

"Little Jin here is correct," said Flender, "though it makes me curious what sort of lesson did you need to learn for you to remember." He then waved a hand dismissively in front of him. "It doesn't matter," he said. "But what does is whether you two auxiliary masters can survive long enough to support someone." He clapped his hands then said. "You two then go run twenty laps around the grounds, feel free to use your spirits to support you. If you cannot finish by lunch time, then you two need not eat any until you finish your lesson."

Rongrong put on a determined expression, and Oscar seemed to smile a bit.

"Well then, get to it now," said Flender. "Lunch time is ticking."

The two then started running, and as someone who relishes said joy, I figured I might as well join—to make sure this older guy didn't do anything bad.

Before we left, I heard Flender tell Tang San to come with him. Suspicious, but the only real connection we had to Flender was uncle Xiaogang, so perhaps it was related to that.

When we cleared the academy grounds, Oscar spoke up. "This teacher Flender was only too cruel, sending us to this impossible task."

Rongrong kept up her running, breathing even and not a step out of pace while I jogged together with them. Jog, because this was nowhere near my full speed, and having the nourishment of two thousand level spirit rings—though weaker than I could've been—I was still a lot stronger than most with just hundred-year spirit rings.

"How much longer is the track?" asked Rongrong.

"Teacher meant the entire grounds including the farmlands," said Oscar with a sad smile, "all in all, this distance covered should be around two kilometers."

And twenty laps in total was forty kilometers. All under three hours. Yeah, even for me that was impossible.

Rongrong knit her brows. "Then what's the point of doing this then? If we have no way of avoiding the punishment."

"And what if the punishment was the lesson?" I said.

"Then the sooner we fail," said Rongrong, "the sooner we can learn."

Oscar frowned. "But we can only fail by sundown."

"You're both kinda screwed with that," I said.

Later that night, and after Rongrong soldiered through eating Oscar's spirit sausages, the two finally finished twenty laps, both covered in sweat with knees trembling. I was alright somehow, though my legs also ached, but with one of Oscar's sausages, the strain was put under control. I helped the two back to the clearing where Flender was with the rest of our fellow students.

"Finished running?" Flender said.

"Yes, teacher," answered Oscar through ragged breaths for him and her.

I was supporting Rongrong on one side and him on the other, and she was breathing hard but not wheezing, just exhausted.

"Impressive," he said, "and I see our little master here also attended?"

"I enjoy running," I said. "It's a very liberating experience." Doing parkour through a forest while reinforced with spirit power gave a high higher than anything.

"Then I suppose you'd like to join us as well for the next lesson?" his eyes were narrowed, something fierce.

"Of course," I said. "I am wholly responsible for what I did. But if possible, would you let me help these two back to their cottage first?"

Flender raised an eyebrow at that. "No," he said. "I want them to remember the difficulty of doing so on their own."

It wasn't as if he had bad intentions, and angering him wasn't going to do anyone any good. "Understood, teacher," I said, and gently let off the two to stand on their own. "Please be careful on the way back, Rongrong."

The two started limping away, and I looked back at Flender to see him nod. "Very good," he said, "You two get some well-deserved rest. And Rongrong" —she looked back— "never forget how formidable the effects of Oscar's spirit are."

Every time she'd nearly fall from exhaustion, a bite off Oscar's spirit saved her from collapsing. She nodded gravely to that and made her way back to the cottages together with Oscar.

When they disappeared from view, Flender then got our attentions. "We have somewhere we need to be," he said, "keep up now."

With a light step, he blurred and appeared at the very edge of the clearing, as everyone burst out into a quick run with our spirits out.

Flender kept up his steady lead, always at a near fixed distance from the first among us.

Dai Mubai powered through the brush, while Zhuqing's graceful form matched my own flowing pace. Just behind us three were Tang San and Xiao Wu, the former moving with that strange footwork of his and Xiao Wu doing something like I did but less daring. With his spirit power, I knew Tang San could erupt faster than what he did, but he wouldn't dare leave Xiao Wu behind. At the rear was Ma Hongjun, but moving fast enough to not get left behind.

We ran back a familiar way but took the straight route through the forest. Mubai kept his lead as we passed through the heart of the wood where the number of trees were thickest, and Zhuqing somewhat fell behind to around Tang San and Xiao Wu with Ma Hongjun firmly in the rear. I however, took to the tops of the trees, relying on my Crown's light and increased perception to avoid tripping.

A few more minutes of this and we eventually reached the edge of Suotuo city's limits—and found their walled city bright despite the night. We entered and found the bustling night life, and these lights were the effects of one of the few spirit tools the Heaven Dou artisans could craft called the Warm Glowstones. They were made using the extracts from the bodies of Warm Glow Worms applied to a core of iron and encased with glass, and their effect was to store sunlight and release them after a small trigger of spirit power.

Xiao Wu looked absolutely enchanted with the sight, but Tang San's unperturbable nature kept him calm. I'd already known of these tendencies of more liberal cities to stay active well into the night, so it wasn't too big a surprise. Zhuqing didn't seem to care much, and Mubai also kept a somewhat aloof demeanor but Ma Hongjun kept looking left and right after every lady we passed.

Flender then led us to a large building lit up as if it were under the light of day. To use so much glowstone was something beyond extravagance, and from the few trips I'd had outside the capital and Nuoding, this was the first I'd seen of this kind of building, though I already knew what sort of establishment it was. The capital had one such place, and grandpa Shan once snuck me in.

Flender ruffled his plump body up, filling his chest with pride and saying, "This here will be your classroom, Suotuo Great Spirit Arena."

He then went on to explain the mechanics. This Great Spirit Arena was an unaffiliated organization that ran fights between spirit masters for entertainment. It was a system made to allow the spirit masters the different kingdoms cultivated a place to vent, as well as let people prove themselves. Here, glory from battle was possible, and more so was their fair and secure system that didn't allow for the clan politics that usually colored the outside world. As long as you fought under the Great Spirit Arena's influence, then you were guaranteed asylum as long as you stayed within the rules.

"In our Shrek Academy," Mubai said, "the only real rules are to not kill and to not make any untoward gestures to the people—like what fatty does."

"Hey," said Ma Hongjun.

"Betting and exchanging pointers are all allowed," said Flender. "And the only true experience you need is combat, and to experience pressure unknown to a sterile environment like an academy. One of your requirements before graduation is to reach for a Silver Spirit badge, and the other is to reach above fortieth rank, and the best way to obtain both is to continue forging your wills against constant combat."

"But don't think that this will be easy," said Mubai. "I entered this arena starting when I was at rank twenty-ninth, and have continued to forge myself here until I reached my rank thirty-seventh now, truly, the effects are just as great as the risks."


	15. Chapter 15

Long story short, Flender made us all sign-up for the one-on-one fights in the arena—and also made us fight on our first day.

"We have a new challenger!" said the announcer, dressed in his gaudy showman clothes.

People filled the stands surrounding the ring, some cheering, but most of them with bored and listless looks. My opponent was coming out from the other side, and I was to come out second. Stage fright was something I never had to deal with back in the day, because I never did anything grand. I guess now was as good a time as any to find out.

"First," said the announcer, "we have an experienced fighter, Hong Lian, twenty-seventh rank battle spirit master."

Hong Lian stepped out from the ring, raising his hands and rousing the few spectators he could. He was shirtless and only had his trousers, showing off his chiseled and scarred back. It was… sad, in a way, to also be at the same rank as someone so old. Such was the difference between talent and luck in this world, and at least from my previous life, the difference in birth could somewhat be closed with enough effort—here though, to be born without enough meant you were screwed, and neither would your environment encourage you to reach higher.

"And next," said the announcer. "our newcomer, only ten years old but already at also twenty-seventh rank, control system, Tang Mao!"

Of course, appearing in public like this, I still wasn't stupid enough to completely reveal my real identity. The Clear Sky sect was too well known to hide completely, but everyone knew the family had black hair; which is why aunt Yuehua's silver, my blonde, and Tang San's dark blue were all such clear misfits.

I stepped out of my hall into silence, that turned into a slow trickle of applause. Them announcing all that was verified before I even stepped into this stage, so good luck to these people figuring anything out. On signing up, Spirit Arena's officers had a spirit crystal for testing various levels of cultivation, and they also had the same set-up to just before entering the ring to be sure.

I hopped onto the raised stone platform, and a few chuckles came from the crowd. I waved to the few people there were—none of whom I recognized since everyone else was out fighting their own battles.

Hong Lian was a lot older up front, his face had the beginnings of a few wrinkles, and the luster in his hair wasn't as fine anymore. Though that could also be because of bad hygiene. Note to self: try to make shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, liquid soap, and maybe detergent for clothes and dishwashing fluid or cakes for dinnerware and cookware. Damn, I am so owning this damn empire in the future.

The announcer made us bow to each other, and stepped away to signal the bell. Ding! It rang out, and Hong Lian released his spirit, two yellow rings floating up from behind him, and so did I.

When earlier people still seemed unsure, now, no one dared speak at all—my opponent, like a deer in the headlights.

"That can't be right," said Hong Lian with a higher voice than I expected.

"I find it hard to believe too," I said with a shrug. "So, you're a tool spirit master as well?" Beast spirit masters didn't have a choice on getting their bodies transformed by their spirits, but us tool spirit masters could choose when to manifest ours.

He nodded, and brought out a Monk's Spade, shining against the arena's glowstone ceiling. It was as long as he was tall, and he flared it about, twirling it in front of him and behind him before settling into holding it across from him. It was both a stance and not, something forged through battle and experience instead of careful study.

Here came the moment of truth, did I dare reveal my Hammer and expose my identity further? Or my Crown and keep it hidden. Flender had no advice to give on the matter, and Tang San let me decide as well. Unlike him, I had a choice on which spirit I could use, it's just that it came with some downsides. My Crown was scary in that it gave me staying power and ranged damage—but not by much. Sure, I had some of my martial arts, but if I met someone stronger than me then all I could do then is make it a battle of Attrition. On the other hand, my Hammer dealt with everything upfront—but it exposes my identity and eats through spirit power like a Hummer on nitrous.

I sighed, and wore my Crown.

"Hail to the little king," said Hong Lian with a chuckle.

"Greetings to the honorable monk," I said with a smile.

He nodded, and I burst into a run—spreading Devour to connect me to him. When the gold light reached him, his face became something bitter. Both Xiao Wu and Tang San would have troubles under that light, so someone at my same level should feel it just as bad. Spirit power filled my limbs as I took the straight and narrow path.

His first spirit ring shone, then he slashed his weapon across from him and sent out a crescent wave of energy.

It flew out for the fifteen meters between us, but its brilliance faded before it reached me, and tongue-in-cheek, I chopped at it and broke his ability together with the skin of my palm. Well, fuck.

But from the other side, Hong Lian spit out a mouthful of blood.

"What the hell?" I said.

The man looked at me like he was looking at some freak who just said something stupid. "You broke my ability, of course I'd feel the backlash!" he said, charging at the same time.

"Oh," I said, and used Shock on him.

And the guy went down, writhing on the ground with his spirit dispelled. I was left standing there not entirely sure what to do when the ball rang then, and in came the announcer's voice saying, "We have a winner!"

Everything happened too fast, and the few people there applauded somewhat, when I was ushered out of the ring in favor of the next fight. I was then told by the kind lady to show up at the fight counter and received my winnings of ten gold coins—and a few beautiful ideas floated up from the depths.

"Ma'am," I said. "Where are the betting pools?"

A quick explanation and a reassuring dismissal of my wanting to rig bets to my favor, plus a note I couldn't bet on myself later, I then went up by the betting booths and saw Flender smackdab in the middle, raking in a killing from my fight just now.

Our eyes met, and he gestured at me to go somewhere else. I guess that explains where they get their money then. Spirit Hall's stipend only went up to the fortieth rank, or the Spirit Elder stage, at one hundred gold coins—Spirit Masters get one gold, and Spirit Grandmasters get ten.

I walked to a small away corner, hidden from the people's eyes, already used to such cloak and dagger methods and Flender walked in not a moment too soon.

"How did you find this area?" said Flender.

"I asked," I said.

He pursed his lips before saying, "I suppose you'd like me to place bets on your fights?"

"You already did," I said, then passed him my winnings for today. Ten gold was something I could make in about two days' worth of trading, and one on a good haul. Letting go of it now to make it grow was a simple exercise in patience, and as an unknown newcomer, my odds were sure to be shitty—which meant everyone else in the academy was a cash cow right now. "I want a cut on the earnings," I said.

Flender and I negotiated our portions, and settled an agreement of seventy-thirty for any money I made. The option was also open to my schoolmates if they asked and gave their own money for betting, and I was supposed to tell them. I excused myself to seek out the next fight—Tang San and Mubai's.

I found a seat next to Xiao Wu who was together with Zhuqing and Hongjun.

"Hey big sis," I said, taking my seat next to her.

"You did well on your fight, Little Jin," she said. "But your hand will need some time to mend."

I hid the bandaged hand, and filed a mental note to go see Oscar if we can fix this with his sausage. I'd already seen and felt what his spirit could do, and though really perverted in nature, the instantaneous effects were nothing short of extraordinary.

Zhuqing only nodded, and Hongjun said nothing, staring fixedly at the ring.

The announcer announced their names, and Mubai and Tang San both walked out from opposite sides, and the bell to start the match rang. Three rings then sprang up from both sides, one side with two yellow and one purple, the other with one yellow and two purple, and again, the crowd went silent.

"This must be some sort of trick," said one of the spectators near us.

"And to think this kid was just twelve?"

"I heard there was one who was ten with two purple rings!"

"What sort of nonsense is Spirit Arena pulling off now."

"That kid must have some sort of camouflage ability to be able to show something like that."

Xiao Wu's baby face gradually turned from rosy to red, and in her eyes spelled murder. I tried placating her by offering her some sweets but she turned them down.

"I'm alright," she said, "just angry at these ignorant fools."

Dirty looks came from the people around us, and I bowed for the both of us in apology.

"And you," Xiao Wu said, "to bring your head down for these riff-raff, have you no pride?"

I shook my head at her, and her eyes turned from annoyance and into a glare. "Politeness is the blade of the learned," I said—totally just made that up. "There are three things any wise person fears: the sea in a storm, the night with no moon, and a gentle man's wrath."

She tilted her head at that.

"I'm just saying they wouldn't like me very much when I'm angry."

She raised an eyebrow. "Now that I think of it, I've never seen you angry before."

I winked at her, then smiled and said, "Just imagine me with all the might of my spirits out to kill someone."

Xiao Wu smiled and nodded to that, and when we looked back at the fight was Mubai in a precarious position thanks to Tang San's white swords.

"That was anti-climactic," said Zhuqing.

Hongjun only stared at what happened with hard eyes.

Xiao Wu stood with hands akimbo, and said, "You see now what could've happened, fatty?"

Hongjun hmphed, as the announcer declared Mubai's forfeit. I knew better than to screw with Tang San, and with his second and third abilities—the Machineel's evolving poison and the Jewel Mantis' blades—the guy was practically unstoppable. Just imagining having poisoned spikes spring up to stab my nuts sent shivers down my spine, and I'd never won against him after he got that second ring of his. Xiao Wu was still manageable with my crown, but he was just untouchable. Always just out of reach and throwing out his Machineel needles.

"Out of the three of us," I said, gesturing to Xiao Wu. "Tang San is the only person we both can't defeat after his second ring."

"I see," said Zhuqing.

The next fight was Hongjun's with a beast spirit master whose soul was an ox. It didn't end well for his opponent. Then Zhuqing fought a control system dude who had a snake whom she barely snatched a victory from. Xiao Wu also wanted to form a two-person team with Tang San but their differing levels of cultivation made it impossible. I kinda wanted the extra income, but my only real match in the academy was Rongrong, so taking her here was definitely within expectations because of course Oscar also needs to cultivate through combat. Hongjun already having a badge just confirmed my speculation.

We then made our way back to the school and went straight to bed—though I did pass by Rongrong's place to check on her and got a teasing smile from Xiao Wu.

The following morning, I went back to the village and got another haul of trading goods: more seeds, textiles, spices, the usual things that sold well in distant places, and I traded them some things I'd only found in the capital, like porcelain pottery or certain cultivars of tea that sold well with nobles. As for the ores we needed, there were barely any today.

I arrived with time to spare back in school and went straight for breakfast—finding the same scene as yesterday, except now there was Hongjun.

"Hah," he said, "my Evil Fire seems to have been cleaned out last night."

Mubai shot him a dirty look and Rongrong and I could only look over to the three who seemed to know since Oscar wasn't there yet.

"What's this about an Evil Fire?" I asked.

Hongjun's expression became bitter, and his eyes trailed over the three girls. He sighed and said, "I'll tell them, boss Dai." He breathed in and continued, "This is a consequence of my spirit variation, my Evil Fire Phoenix threatens to make me burst into flames unless I suppress it with… you know."

He gestured something vague, and Xiao Wu scowled, though Tang San remained impassive.

"I don't understand," I said.

Hongjun shook his head and said, "I need to sleep with women."

The two other girls joined Xiao Wu's scowling, and Mubai could only smile with a hint of pity. It was cruel to punish someone for something they had no control over, and it was something all too common back in my supposedly more enlightened world.

"I see," I said. "And it must be difficult, to be forced into such matters. I mean, the pleasure aside, to actually have to must take quite a toll."

Rongrong looked at me like I was on fire but she didn't know what to do, and Xiao Wu's mouth just hung open while Zhuqing narrowed her eyes. Mubai nodded though, and Tang San still remained impartial.

"He never chose to be afflicted with this," I said, "it just so happens his burden isn't so bad as to, let's say, need to eat a thousand jin a day, or to bathe in the blood of other people." I said all that with a smile, and the joke seemed lost on the people around me.

No one really reacted to that.

"It's something to think about," I finished, and went back to my porridge.

We finished breakfast and went back to our dorms to wait for class. Tang San secluded himself to his curtained part of the room to work on his hidden weapons, and I went out to give him the space he wanted. I never got to see Oscar since yesterday, so to fix my hand, I did the next best thing I knew. Feed on the life force of the plants around me.

I sat an away corner in the nearby forest and expanded Devour, letting the life force circulate through my hand. The pain lessened, but unlike that active repair effect from Oscar's sausage, this was a lot slower. Thirty-seven minutes pass, and my hand was as good as new, though the next step to rank twenty-eight still remained rather far at me being only twenty-two percent of the way there.

That fight with Zhao Wuji allowed me to reach my current rank from fifty percent, and to cultivate through battle was something shared in principle by Flender and uncle Xiaogang.

With nothing better to do, and without a relatively clean area to do my chemistry, I instead sought Zhao Wuji out to ask for some pointers.

I knocked on the wooden door, and the gruff man appeared with a scowl, and said, "What do you want?"

I bowed and said, "I was hoping to exchange pointers with teacher Zhao, our fight from two days ago allowed me to advance the rest of the way to the twenty-seventh rank that night, and I believe you are my best bet at reaching the rest of the way to reach the Spirit Grandmaster rank."

He raised an eyebrow at that, and said, "Does dean Flender approve of this?"

I frowned and said, "He has to? If yes, then I don't mind asking for permission."

Zhao Wuji scratched his head and said, "I'm not really one for holding back, and to exchange pointers with someone more than twice your rank sounds like the path of a madman to me."

Everyone knows cheesing a high-level grunt in an open map environment is the best way to level-up, and here I had said grunt and a healing station—read as Oscar's sausages—nearby, of course I'd take this opportunity to grind.

"So, what if it is?" I said. "The battle spirit master I fought in the arena last night was just too weak, and you're the strongest person I've ever faced so far."

Zhao Wuji started smiling after that. "And you'd dare face me alone?"

"If that's what it takes," I said, "and I could ask the others if they want to join. But to reach out for power is something they should do themselves. I, their junior, shouldn't be the one deciding for them."

He nodded to that, and said, "I wasn't wrong then with letting you five pass, you especially."

I scratched my head. "Please, teacher, you'll make me blush."

"Fine," he said, "I'll play with you little Jin."

I then raised my hand and said, "I only request you take me to Oscar should I end up injuring myself beyond sensibly moving by myself.

When the bell rang later that afternoon, I fell in line—literally, and only stood myself up fast enough before Flender could walk in.

"Little Jin?" said Tang San. "What happened to you?"

I chuckled at the cultivation bar showing me at already fifty-percent. "I asked teacher Zhao for some lessons, and we just socked each other until I couldn't go on anymore." I looked around for Oscar's beautiful face—and found him still nowhere to be seen.

Rongrong looked at me with a 'what the hall' kind of wonder and Xiao Wu just flat out glared. Zhuqing though seems to have had a flash of inspiration.

"You actually asked teacher Zhao to beat you senseless?" said Mubai.

"Not senseless," I said, "and I got to hit him back too." Though doing so only had my abilities bounce back at me. Rongrong's power truly was astonishing, to allow me to hit Zhao Wuji like it mattered.

"This kid is mad," said Hongjun.

Flender arrived with a grunt, and Oscar was still nowhere to be found.

"You look like shit, little Jin," he said.

"At least I don't look like you," I said.

He laughed at that and Mubai stared at me again.

"That almost makes me want to hang you from a tree," he said.

I shook my head, and said, "That won't help rouse my spirit power one bit. You might as well just give me some pointers after I recover with one of Oscar's sausages."

This time was Flender's turn to look at me weird. "Speaking of whom," he said, "that Oscar sounds like he wants to take that lesson together with you."

Mubai stepped up and said, "The last time I saw him was this morning, and he'd been cultivating all night."

Flender nodded. "Go call him then and tell him he has a lesson later with me and little Jin."

Cue then Oscar running towards our assembly with a big bright smile plastered all over his face. "I made a breakthrough," he said.

"One big sausage please," I said, "and congratulations."

He seemed a bit distracted and said, "What happened to you?"

"The same thing that will happen to you later," I said. "Sausage. Now."

He raised his hands in front of him and went through the motions then passed me the Schublig which I immediately ate, feeling its restoration work its magic on my bruises and pains.

"Are you done little Jin?" said Flender.

"I'm not feeling half-dead anymore," I said, "please carry on."

He shook his head, and none of the others there dared to say anything. "Fine," he said. "Oscar, congratulations on your breakthrough, tomorrow, we'll hunt for your next spirit ring together with the rest of the students." He then turned to me. "We'll need all of you at your best tomorrow so your lesson with Oscar will have to wait, and no going to Zhao Wuji later."

I nodded. Hunting spirit beasts was no laughing matter, and since we were in Suotuo, the closest forest to us was of course Star Dou Forest, and that place was hell on earth even if I had my two grandpas together with me. To go there with this rag-tag bunch of misfits though, that sounded like suicide. Perfect.

"Please wipe that smile from your face," said Oscar.

"I'm smiling?" I said.

Flender waved his hands dismissively and said, "Enough, since our lesson will need to be changed for today, and also because it will be relevant to you all later on, your lesson for now will be to eat one of Oscar's sausages."

The girls all put on sour looks, and even the boys, but then there was me. "They taste pretty good though," I said, holding out the half-eaten sausage.

Flender shook his head. "Little Jin here has already eaten so—"

"Wait, what does your second spirit ring taste like?"

Oscar opened and closed his mouth, and I held out my hand. He still seemed a bit lost though, but he shook himself out of it and said, "I, your father, have a little sausage."

His second ring shone, and the light condensed into a wrinkled cocktail wiener which he passed to me.

I popped it into my mouth without hesitation, and like I expected, the thing tasted like a Saveloy, a bit salty and tangy. "Seconds please," I said.

"Eh?" said Oscar, "err." He made me another two of his sausages, and to think I'd actually get a taste of home from this guy, hell, I was real excited for his third ring now!

"You know," I said, "we could really make a business out of this."

Oscar smiled at that, and Flender cleared his throat. "We still have a lesson," he said.

"Of course," said Oscar, making more sausages, one of each for the other students.

"How could you even stomach that?" whispered Mubai.

It tastes like sausages I don't fucking know how to make, is what I didn't say, and instead said, "They have a very unique taste which I enjoy, what's not to like?"

"But," said Mubai, gesturing at the large dildo looking Schublig in his hands. "It's a _sausage_!"

"And a damn good one too," I said.

He swallowed his pride and ate the thing, though given his lack of reaction meant he'd probably had it before. The real fun though was watching the girls.

Rongrong bit into her big sausage with a snarl, making Oscar's vulgar look at her turn pale. Zhuqing only faced away from everyone but her chin never stopped moving. Xiao Wu looked like she was gonna puke any second.

Hongjun didn't have any problems with food, though I guess the penis look-alike was a bit too close to home, he ate it without really looking and probably had it before as well. Tang San though, looked the same as when I'd first eaten it after that bout with Zhao Wuji.

"Your sausages help recover spirit power?" said Tang San.

Oscar nodded with a smile. "And the second ring helps cure poison."

"Which means it's alright to poison people," I said.

"Only if you don't kill anyone," said Flender.

Rongrong then spoke up, "How old is big brother Oscar now?"

The person in question smiled bright, saying, "This Sausage Monopoly Oscar is fourteen now my lady."

Rongrong narrowed her eyes at him and said nothing more.

But Flender cut in, smiling with a devious light in his eyes, saying, "Now you see why I prize him so?"


	16. Chapter 16

Flender was exactly the kind of person you'd see in one of those real-time strategy games sending peons out to fight armies. But, at least I'd like to think he means well.

We all stood in a circle by the academy's outskirts, with teacher Zhao by the side. Interface told me it was ten in the morning right now, and we were ordered by Flender to start making our way to the forest., or camp out if we don't make it by then.

"Little Jin," Mubai said, "you lead in the front, with Xiao Wu and Zhuqing at your flanks. Rongrong and Oscar, you two stay in the middle, and me, Tang San, and Hongjun will guard the rear."

We all nodded and said, "Understood."

Mubai continued, "Should we encounter any trouble, Rongrong should boost both little Jin, Tang San and Hongjun first with power to meet our foe, and Xiao Wu and Zhuqing with speed should they find opportunities to attack. I'll make sure nothing happens to Rongrong and Oscar, and Oscar will pass out sausages for recovery with Tang San covering for the retreating person."

We all gave another round of affirmatives.

"Next is our movement formation," continued Mubai, "Rongrong shouldn't use her spirit at all to conserve spirit power, as well as to avoid attracting suspicion, and Oscar will supply us all with sausages as we run to keep up our conditions. Should they need any help with movement, I will support Oscar, and Tang San will Rongrong."

Xiao Wu pouted at that, and Tang San spoke up, "Perhaps we should have little Jin do so instead?"

Oscar this time was the one to pout, but his expression dissipated soon enough.

Rongrong then shook her head and said, "Fine, let's just avoid trouble. Little Jin, I trust you won't let me come to harm?" Her smiled hid something ferocious.

"And risk your grandpa flaying me alive?" I said with a shrill tone. I puffed out my chest and continued, "Of course not my dearest princess!"

She sighed at that, and the matter was settled. I was hoping to work on synthesizing more nitroglycerin later in the night, but I guess this changed a few things.

As a former student of chemistry, I put all my lab instructors to shame by storing the darn stuff on its own in a little vial in Inventory, but with the help of spirit power, getting the stuff to not explode was a cinch. Now I just needed something to keep it inert like fine sand or diatomaceous earth if I could find the stuff, but in all this time I still hadn't been able to find it. Sure, I could just throw it out in vials, but that defeated the point of a safe and usable anytime explosive.

The eight of us broke into a run following the slowest person's pace, Rongrong's, while Zhao Wuji ran behind us as insurance, and our goal was to go exactly where I thought we would: Star Dou Forest. I was hoping to save ourselves a second journey by breaking through together with Xiao Wu before it, but oh well. We could just go there again later.

The same forest scene as last night played out, but this time with us in the lead and not going all out. Parkour with spirit power helped me maintain a steady rhythm, gliding over moss covered branches and swinging around sharp corners, while Zhuqing favored quick straight dashes and Xiao Wu hopped about just like her spirit.

I glanced a look back to see Rongrong running together with Oscar, but not taking to the trees like we did. It was a consequence of their being tool spirit masters and of the auxiliary type. I just happened to practice moving around enough on difficult terrain, but beast spirit masters had the best advantage when it came to having stronger bodies.

Every thirty minutes, Oscar would pass us all sausages each, and though we had a run-in with some stray pack of spirit beast wolves, my Shock Domain was enough to scare them away. I would've wanted to absorb them as well, but the major fuck up from all those years ago made me think otherwise. It was best to wait until my third or fourth ring before I went all out.

The journey was uneventful after that, and the constant blur of trees let my mind wander about.

Uncle Xiaogang agreed with my theory of having twice the capacity for each spirit ring, and following the trends of my cultivation so far, I should be able to get something at around five thousand to six thousand years for my next. It was absurd at first, but the math checked out. My first ring was near a thousand, and the next was at two, then adding the two together and doubling it then gave me the terrifying number I needed to fill.

His calculation though for Tang San was even more absurd. Apparently, he underestimated the resilience of his student's Blue Silver Grass, and to actually intake three times the cultivation years of his first ring from the four-hundred-year snake, to the thirteen-hundred tree, then finally the four-thousand-year mantis, then surely, he should already be able to get a twelve-thousand-year ring next.

Monsters, was what uncle Xiaogang called us, completely baffled but smiling all the way, and the rest of our family could only celebrate at the possibilities.

We stopped our running to take a quick break when the sun was highest to conserve energy.

Already used to the motions, me and Tang San had already taken out some bamboo mats for people to sit on, and I got our cooking tools out and ready for a quick meal. I set a pot of water to boil shortly after making sure the cookware was clean, and set aside a few spices to flavor the soup with. Running like this required carbs to function, so a chowder was best to give everyone something easy to eat but still just as nutritious.

"I didn't expect the heir of the Clear Sky sect to know the ways of the road," teacher Zhao said, looking the make-shift camp once over.

Rongrong stood next to me, watching me handle the ingredients with a knife, and the fantastic oddity that was my spirit stove. It was a marvelous find in Heaven Dou capital's auction house, and a sort of weaker version of Tang San's mobile forge.

"I had to travel a lot when I was younger," I said.

Teacher Zhao looked surprised. "And the furthest you've been?"

"I've been to Silvers City before near the sea," I said. Out of curiosity for why the fuck sea food stuffs were so damn expensive. Besides 'stay the fuck away' from the sea though, I didn't learn much else.

Zhuqing sat alone with Mubai hovering near her, and her mat was next to Oscar and Hongjun's, while Xiao Wu sat with Tang San, and teacher Zhao had one of his own. Rongrong was supposed to sit by Zhuqing, but stayed with me instead.

A few minutes passed and the pot came to a boil, I started sautéing some garlic and ginger in another pot with butter, then added in some salted pork for extra flavor. When the aroma started to come out, I poured in the boiled water then thickened it with flour and shredded flat bread. Later came in the black peppers, some rosemary, a bit of chili flakes to get the blood going, and some a bit more salt to taste. Noodles were sort of an option, but I decided against it in favor of some carrots and scallions for color and flavor instead.

Xiao Wu then hopped over and smiled. "Little Jin cooks well for a man," she said to Rongrong, "and if you ask nicely, he'll even make you these sweet little cakes with a sweetened sauce he calls pancakes."

Rongrong stared intently into my eyes and said, "You must." Then shook her head, curiosity turning into transparent intent. "You will," she ordered.

I stared straight back and sighed. "Fine."

When the soup came to another boil, I let it simmer for a while to join the conversations. The three older boys were bantering on their tastes with women, but a peeved Zhuqing kept Mubai from treading into deeper waters. Eventually, the topics fell to me.

"How does a little master know how to cook?" Mubai saod, looking way too much at the pot.

"Who gives a shit if he knows!" Hongjun said, already drooling. "Quick, little brother, tell us what you're making instead."

"It's a simple soup for lunch and should go well with Oscar's sausages," I said. Just thinking of the salty goodness of those saveloys together with the smooth and steady base of the chowder. "It has flour and flatbreads mixed in to give us energy, and some choices spices and vegetables to add to the taste."

Oscar smiled to that little tidbit and nodded my way.

"More sausages?!" said Hongjun. "Don't you get tired of sausages?"

Xiao Wu stood up and said, "No," with the flattest and gravest tone. She shook her head and continued, "If there's something wrong with little Jin besides his masochism…"

"Hey!"

"…then it's his horrible stubbornness for food," Xiao Wu continued. "He'll tell you to eat vegetables and the like but he won't give a crap about what he eats if he likes it. And that could mean this same soup for two weeks straight: breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Everyone else looked over at Tang San, who nodded, saying nothing more.

"If it has all the nutrients and vitamins you need, there's nothing wrong with that, and I'm the one cooking here," I said. I always like what I cook, and I've had enough of this world's bland dishes for the last six years of my life. And salt was so damned expensive in the capital, hence the small fortune I made with that one trip to the sea. Not having to worry about carrying capacity sure had its wonders.

Hongjun groaned into his hands, but thanked me anyway when I started passing the soup. Oscar made more of his two sausages, and I passed some more flat breads together with them. With my Crown, running well into the night wasn't a problem so we could take as much time as we needed during these breaks to rest up then move whenever.

Hongjun and teacher Zhao finished theirs before I finished passing out the others' bowls, and it was a good thing I used one of my bigger pots. Tang San and Xiao Wu had tasted this recipe before during our trip to Xianji for their iron mines, and I remembered grandpa Shan complaining about it on the fourth day we had the same stuff. Nobody else knew much about cooking save for boiling eggs or grilling meats, so they were at least thankful for the flavorful foods.

At the end of our meal, Oscar was the first to talk. "I never knew I could enjoy my own sausages like that," he said with a solemn expression.

I clapped him on the back and looked into his eyes before saying, "I can show you much more than that."

Mubai laughed hard together with Hongjun, and Tang San only looked at them weird. Zhao Wuji joined in on the fun together with Rongrong and Xiao Wu, and Oscar shuffled back a bit.

Zhuqing tsked, and muttered, "Idiots."

"Who knew little Ao's pretty face would net him a man instead?!" said Mubai.

"He has good sausages," I said, meaning everything I said, but the humor wasn't lost on me.

Rongrong burst out laughing at that, joining Hongjun who was doing vulgar gestures, but the rowdiness died down in a flash, all eyes on the girl. Xiao Wu, Zhuqing, Oscar and Mubai were all stunned with what they saw, and Tang San had on a difficult expression.

"That's new," I said, and shrugged.

Rongrong looked around and immediately went beet red—and I was using the metaphor without an actual real-world example because beets didn't grow here dammit. The pink-haired girl then put down both arms still in that unnatural form, one hand holding the crook of the elbow with the fist pointed up, and straightened out her pristine white dress.

She cleared her throat, turned to me with a sad smile and spoke, "I guess my poor buns lost to that big sausage uncle after all."

Shit went wild.

Hongjun went red in the face from lack of air due to all his laughing and Mubai's face hadn't changed since Rongrong dropped the bomb. Tang San was blushing hard, and Xiao Wu just kept laughing, though if from the joke or San's listlessness, I didn't know. Teacher Zhao had on a straight face ever since, and Oscar was blushing with a very flustered expression.

I waggled my eyebrows at him and Hongjun started wheezing and coughing and Mubai finally shook himself out of his stupor. Tang San opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, and Xiao Wu kept laughing while pointing at him.

Zhuqing sighed, and again said, "Idiots," but this time without hiding anything.

When the laughter finally died down for real, I stood up, gathering everyone's attention, and said, "For the record though, I'm more into older women." I winked at Rongrong with a very obvious gesture.

"Who are you calling old?!" she said, and threw her steel bowl at me.

I cleaned up after us with some baking soda I happened upon a peddler selling sacks of back in Gonghu city, and stored all my dinnerware back into my ring. Camping out with everything and the kitchen sink was a very liberating experience.

We resumed our running, more smiles around this time than earlier, and with hope a lot more like a team now than before.

It took us a good four days of journeying whenever we could before we reached the frontier town around nighttime, and by then Hongjun was already sick of eating my food over and over again, though the others held out somewhat.

"I told you so," said Xiao Wu to Hongjun as they practically tackled the first person they saw selling food.

"Fuck," said teacher Zhao, joining them, "you owe everyone dinner here for what you did, little Jin."

"Then you all better bring your own food next time we do this!" I said.

We then squared ourselves away to the best hotel there was—read as the least dirty—and we all settled down for some dinner other than soup and sausages.

"Did you make sure to leave room for a proper meal?" Tang San asked Xiao Wu who was still snacking on a chicken skewer.

"It's fine," said Hongjun with a bag of the same stuff. "After what little Jin made us go through, she should be allowed to treat herself."

Xiao Wu actually agreed with fatty for once, and Rongrong was quietly nibbling on a skewer herself. Our eyes met, and the girl sighed, and gestured at Zhuqing next to her doing the same to some grilled fish fillet. Mubai called a waitress over and passed Hongjun the menu, and teacher Zhao pointed at some choice dishes. Oscar didn't skimp either on making his displeasure known.

I figured as the guy who keeps making them, he was surely the first to get sick of the taste.

"We'll have these three pork dishes, and this and that chicken, and that one fish for the poor lady over there who had to eat the same soup again and again and again for four days," said Hongjun in one breath. "And please also leave out any carrots in your dishes, I don't think anyone here besides that freak" —he snorted in my direction— "would like any right now."

Nods came from everywhere.

"And if you have any rice wine or beer," added teacher Zhao, "give me some too, I need to wash out that infernal taste off my mouth."

The waitress left with a strange smile and a long list of orders, and showed her list to a very pleased manager. The prices weren't steep enough to cost several gold coins, but at a total of around thirty silver , the place wasn't cheap either. Everything was more expensive here at so far away from everything else and so close to danger.

"I still can't believe Rongrong's grandpa is _the_ Chen Xin," said Mubai with a low voice.

Rongrong's grandpa Sword was famous for standing at the top of all currently known Titled Douluo, even above uncle Hao, but definitely not above Spirit Hall's supposed rank ninety-nine peak Douluo whom uncle told me about, and was apparently the reason why him and our family was in hiding.

Thanks to coming from a family of seven Titled Douluo, I understand from their own experiences that the difference in power between their individual ranks was like the difference of Heaven and Earth when it came to matching spirit powers in the tens, twenties, and thirties and so on levels. Uncle Hao and father's rank ninety-fives were like rank fifty spirit masters trying to go up against—well—a Titled Douluo, and adding another few rank ninety-twos and ninety-threes didn't add much to the equation. And that's assuming we only went up against that one guy, not counting the for sure other Douluos Spirit Hall was hiding.

Teacher Zhao only nodded. "I'd met Sword Douluo once before, and it was good I wasn't causing trouble with Rongrong's clan at the time."

"Just imagine getting hounded by him for giving Rongrong a precious gem," I said, and teacher Zhao shook his head at me and started clicking his tongue

I noticed Rongrong changed out her ruby earrings for sapphire ones some time ago, contrasting her light pink hair with a striking blue. "What precious gem?" she said. "What you gave me was an uncut and unpolished rock." She hmphed and turned away, finishing the rest of her skewer.

Oscar paled at the topic, and Hongjun just stared straight into my eyes and said, "Has little Jin always been a crazy maniac looking for fights?"

Tang San spoke up, "If you count not caring whether poisoned and coming back up until you hurt him enough, then yes."

Xiao Wu scrunched her nose. "Fighting little Jin is like an exercise in masochism, especially under that second ability of his."

Teacher Zhao nodded some more and added, "He's the only one in your current generation who's ever come to me for instruction without Flender's orders."

"Such is the confidence—or arrogance, of someone with twin spirits," Mubai said, shaking his head.

Rongrong then pinched my side. "Now that I remember, how come you never told me you had those weird spirits of yours?"

I chuckled, remembering the gap between her angelic face and that vulgar mouth of hers, and said, "Just like how you tell dirty jokes in front of your grandpas?"

Chuckles went around the table.

"Fair," Rongrong said, letting me go.

"Anyway," I said, "how did you all end up in Shrek Academy anyway?"

Mubai went first. "I ran away from home to pursue strength and to avoid certain… responsibilities." His eyes darted to Zhuqing and she narrowed her eyes at him. For sure, these two had _some_ history at least.

"Teacher Zhao there was the one who found me," said Oscar, smiling teacher Zhao's way. "We came from the same village and by luck he was visiting his mother when he happened on some kid with full innate spirit power on his awakening."

"You never told us you had full innate spirit power," I said.

Oscar just shrugged, but Rongrong stiffened up next to me. "You never asked," he said.

"Dean Flender found me after hearing of a rumor," Hongjun said, and the usually perverted smile he had on was instead resolute and steady. "I came from a village where everyone had shared in the same vein of fowl spirits, and I won the lottery with my Evil Fire Phoenix, but with no experienced spirit masters around, all I was was a kid who couldn't keep it in his pants." Hongjun sighed. "The dean saved me from my own Evil Fire, and I owe my life to him."

There was a moment of silence.

"Will you need to take care of it tonight?" I said, remembering the signs we passed coming here. "There should be a place nearby if you need it."

The girls blushed but didn't avert their eyes, and the guys all seemed inured of it already, then teacher Zhao spoke up, "Such matters should be left to us teachers instead, worry not little Hong, little Jin, I will settle this."

Hongjun shook his head with a small smile. "Little brother and teacher are both too good," he said. "But the Evil Fire hasn't acted up yet, and what little is there would instead help increase the temperature of my flames."

In the lull of that moment, Zhuqing spoke next. "I'm here to get stronger," she said. The girl was a person of few words, but her presence wasn't one to go unnoticed. People from the other tables were looking her all over not just once or twice, and it was Mubai who glared at them back in her place. Others were also checking out Rongrong and Xiao Wu, but not as much as the girl who could only be called mature for her age. Me, Tang San, and Hongjun all took turns glaring back at those vulgar men, and Oscar was getting some looks himself, with him cringing adding some much needed humor to the situation.

"I'm here to get stronger too," said Rongrong, "and where better than a place hailed to cater to little monsters."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I honestly never heard of this academy until Tang San's master told me of it, so how did you?"

Rongrong didn't miss a beat when she puffed out her chest and said, "Our sect's eyes and ears are simply better than yours."

And yet she told me her father didn't know of this, so that was either a lie or he knew more than he let on. Also, she should at least have some guards nearby if ever.

The inn's cozy atmosphere was broken when a group of eight, all dressed in pristine white spirit academy robes with the name Blue Sunshine on in unsurprising blue embroidery came in. They were led by an older looking man with a greasy black pony tail, maybe about the same age as uncle Zhi, and they all practically sneered at everyone else. There was only one lady among them, and the rest were all tall dudes with similar close cropped hairstyles. Their academy ought to be sponsored by Spirit Hall to be able to display the sword emblem on their backs.

All eyes in the inn went to them, looking flashy and all, and Mubai and Hongjun both looked on with annoyance, while teacher Zhao with amusement. The lead person then gestured for service, and the manager who thanked us earlier went to them, bowing all the way until they found a seat.

"Acting so high and mighty, these trashes," Teacher Zhao said.

The lead man looked over to our table, and the manager froze like he'd just had a heart attack.

Oscar leaned in to whisper, "This should be fun."

Hongjun next to him had a fierce smile as well, but Tang San pursed his lips and said, "Looking for trouble isn't something honorable people should do."

Oscar shook his head, "And yet our dean tells us spirit masters who don't are no good, only with pressure and enough tempering through combat can true monsters be made."

Teacher Zhao didn't break eye contact with greasy ponytail.

"Uhh, maybe we shouldn't," I said, tapping teacher Zhao's foot with my own.

He just smiled back something nasty. Hongjun then leaned in close to me and said, "If that offer of yours to suppress my Evil Fire extends to her, I might not mind emptying it out."

I frowned. "I don't think I can wing-man for a twelve-year old hitting on someone older than him by at least five years," I said, though I appreciate the courage.

Our waiter then came in with our food, but one of those robed students stood from their just settled table and walked to our area too quickly to be anything but deliberate, then without surprise, the guy bumped into the server.

Before I could react, Tang San had already caught the dishes and set them down on the table, even helping the waiter get steady on his feet. He then turned to the now isolated guy, "You could've gotten your clothes dirty, honored spirit master.

"Oh my," said the guy, "how clumsy of me." The least he could do was make his acting believable.

Teacher Zhao, Hongjun and Xiao Wu wasted no time with grabbing at the food, and I set some portions aside for Rongrong and Zhuqing, the more refined of our group. Mubai and Tang San could fend for themselves, and I didn't like the cheap smell of the cuisine.

The Blue Sunshine guy then circled round too close to Mubai's seat—and stopped walking, his face clearly in pain, and Teacher Zhao started laughing with a drumstick in hand at his miscalculation. If they guy got hurt with that exchange just now, then he was surely weaker than Mubai.

There was an awkward moment as the person in question looked up to that guy, meeting his eyes with a flat stare. "You should watch your step," Mubai said. "You could get hurt."

The dude went red but stayed his ground and said, "I only stopped because I thought _you'd_ get hurt."

I sank with my head down on the table as the situation kept pointing further and further South. Oscar was engrossed in the chaos unfolding while snacking on the mapo tofu, and Hongjun didn't give two shits like Zhuqing, only eating. Rongrong raised an eyebrow at me, and Xiao Wu's expression looked less like a rabbit and more like a cat that found something to play with.

Two more students walked up, and one of them asked, "Is there anything wrong here?"

As much as I liked fighting to get my cultivation up, I was also not stupid enough to act without making sure of my opponent's hand. That teacher of theirs was still an unknown element, and to crumble from Mubai's unenhanced body, that one guy was at least less than thirty-seventh ranked in spirit power. Sure we had teacher Zhao, but there was a lot of things one could live through, and with Oscar here, that list only grew in length.

"Your friend there bit off more than he can chew," Mubai said with a smile, and I swear I heard 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the people who'd already cleared the area around us.

One of the two newcomers sneered and moved to shove Mubai who only raised a hand and stopped the guy cold. "This really isn't turning out like you expected," he said.

"Such rude students," that older man said from across the dining hall.

My chin was touching the table now, and I did everything I could to stop my cringing at the sad scene playing out. It reminded me of all the times I tried flirting and failed, then trying again only to get shut down even harder, sometimes even getting thrown out by the bouncer.

Teacher Zhao spoke up, "It's not our fault you prissy farts don't even know how to push."

Greasy teacher scowled and said, "Perhaps we should settle this ourselves."

"Of course, trash would need others to fight their battles for them," teacher Zhao said. Then leaned in to whisper to me, "Haven't you been itching for some pointers since yesterday?"

"What?" I said. "I never meant anything like his." Going all out in a controlled environment was what I was aiming for where all my bases where covered. Not some backyard brawl.

The man went red in the face, and the manager pleaded with all of us to take it outside.

"You heard the man," teacher Zhao said, and gestured for all of us to come out.

I sat on my haunches drawing circles on the ground as teacher Zhao pretty much negotiated the impromptu fight. People were already crowding around the small dirt street, eager to see the free show. There weren't too many forms of entertainment in this world, and other than gossip or the more… primal urges, the populace enjoyed watching spirit masters sock each other just as much as the average person did basketball back home.

"Hah!" said teacher Zhao, "I'll tell you now, these two are auxiliary spirit masters." He pointed at Oscar and Rongrong. "But everyone else is free to choose."

Greasy pony tail kept up his sneer, and said, "Wang Yu, you go first."

One of the guys stepped forward, white robe billowing under the torch's lights.

"So," teacher Zhao said, "I did say you're free to choose your opponent."

They all looked like they were in their late teens, and to be getting into a fight with a bunch of tweens was already beyond sad. "Then we pick your eldest," said grease tail.

Mubai shrugged and stepped forward. "Dai Mubai, thirty-seventh rank Spirit Grandmaster, Evil Eyes White Tiger," he said, releasing his spirit as his body grew another two inches, and all his muscles bulged out, becoming defined and his nails turning into sinister knife-like talons. Then, three spirit rings appeared behind him, two yellow and one purple.

That Wang Yu seemed to freeze under Mubai's gaze, eyes going wide.

"Well," said Mubai, raising an eyebrow, "your spirit?"

Grease tail tsked, and all the other students seemed to hide behind him.

Wang Yu bit his lip and said, "Wang Yu, twenty-fifth rank Spirit Master, Trident." A long trident appeared in his hands, and two rings appeared: one white and one yellow.

Mubai stared straight at the guy, then turned to our group. "I can't do this," he said with a pitiful tone.

"Fight me," said Wang Yu. "If you value your honor, then face me." He pointed his trident at Mubai, already somewhat red in the face.

All eyes there looked them both on, but none dared to break the silence.

Mubai scratched his head. "I went and looked for trouble and got… what I wanted, I think."

Wang Yu screamed as he charged, his yellow ring shining together with the tip of his weapon, and Mubai's purple ring shone, his body expanding further under his robes.

The prongs of the blade hit Mubai in the chest drawing blood, but penetrated no deeper than its points. Mubai seemed in pain somewhat, but his pitiful smile said otherwise. "Can we stop this now?" he said.

Grease tail stepped out, "Wang Yu, you lost. But how can I take this indignation to our school lying down? You, their teacher, fight me and I'll take back our pride!"

Zhao Wuji laughed at that, and grease tail went even redder. "Why don't you show your spirit first before I do mine and I'll decide whether you're worth the trouble."

The man no longer spoke, and the rest of his students all looked on with indignation. Mubai on the other hand was handed a big sausage by Oscar without a word.

"Fine," said grease tail, "I am Ye Zhi-Qiu, instructor of Blue Sunshine Academy, rank fifty-sixth Spirit King."

Teacher Zhao frowned hard, and looked over at me like he got cheated out of a big bet in the stands.

"Don't look at me," I said. "You started this."

He sighed, and Ye Zhi-Qiu then released his spirit, his back enlarging to produce a rounded shell and his limbs contracting to a third, behind him, five rings floated up: one white, two yellow, and two purple.

Tang San and Xiao Wu looked on in surprise, and grease tail took that in stride and sneered. Rongrong then started giggling with Hongjun and Oscar, and Mubai just scratched his head. I wanted none of this.

"This trash talks a big game for being such a small fish," teacher Zhao said. "Little Bai, little San, Rongrong, you three sort this guy out." He crossed his arms and nudged the three to move forward.

"You still won't give me face despite this!" grease tail said. "Then don't complain if I hurt your little rascals!"

He rushed out with a shining purple ring, his body expanding in size together with that shell, and went straight for Rongrong.

Well, shit.

I jumped into his path the same time as Mubai who already had both a yellow and his one purple ring shining, body nearing Zhao Wuji's height without his spirit, and blocked his advance. Red light engulfed us all, and white swords and black rain littered grease tail's path as Mubai met him head on and was thrown away.

Everything happened so fast, and as the red light faded, there I was with my Hammer out and spitting blood, but at least Rongrong was safe.

"Real smooth, little Jin," said teacher Zhao, his grip clamped tight against his just as tough arms.

"Y-you?!" said grease tail. "Why do you have that?"

I wiped the blood off my mouth, Rongrong's light filling me with strength, as Tang San, Xiao Wu, Hongjun, Oscar, Zhuqing, and Mubai all stepped forward with their spirits and rings out. When Blue Sunshine's students all saw the ideal and more than ideal spirit ring configurations, they all turned tail and ran—and teacher Zhao finally unleashed his, all seven rings, three of which were black, and grease tail could only look on in horror.

Me though, I was just happy I reached the twenty-eighth rank just now.


	17. Chapter 17

Ye Zhi-Qiu joined his students in running, and Teacher Zhao dispersed the crowd with a fierce shout. Red flashed everywhere in Interface, indicating the fuckery going in in my body as I dispelled my Hammer with mixed feelings at the unexpected revelation. The good thing was no one got hurt, and at best, it was teacher's name who'd make the proverbial headlines when things finally spread.

That guy though… he was a loose end.

Rongrong helped me up and Oscar passed me a sausage, also helping to support me.

"Thank you, Jin," she said, the worry transparent in those pink irises.

I smiled back. "I'll be alright, I've been through worse."

Mubai kept glaring at the stragglers, and both Zhuqing and Hongjun quietly circled around us.

Xiao Wu nodded to Tang San, who leaned in. "We can't let him escape," he said, his eyes steeled with blue light.

I sighed and nodded, and asked Rongrong to help me stand straight. I cleared my throat, getting everyone's attentions, and said, "Teacher Zhao, friends, I need a favor from you all."

Which is why not a few moments after, me, Tang San and teacher Zhao found ourselves back in the forest and giving chase to those who escaped. Us two kids were getting carried on his shoulders, while Mubai and the rest stayed behind near the outskirts of the city to wait for us.

My and Tang San's mission for the clan hinged on us delaying our debut in the spirit master world as late as possible. A few rumors weren't too bad, but a guy from Spirit Hall and a few students alive to tell the tale was.

"I must kill them, teacher Zhao," I told him.

My stomach was dancing around a pit fire of bile, my spirit still reeling from the earlier injury despite the healing warmth of Oscar's sausages. That sounded horrible.

It was, a very strange experience to knowingly move out with the intent to murder, kind of a mix between the weakness from coming down with the flu and the dizziness of grinding away at another body in a rave. Disturbing. Tang San took the heat before, but this time was all on me. Those people coming out of this alive were my responsibility. Though, personal matters aside, I was amazed teacher Zhao even went along.

"Our clan owes you a great debt, teacher," Tang San said.

"Your debt is nothing but a fart in the wind," teacher Zhao said. "How could I save face knowing that guy dared to hurt my cute students?" He kicked up his pace, all seven spirit rings blazing a highway through the old forest. The guy didn't even need my Crown's light to navigate, what little moonlight there was probably lit the world up like day to his Spirit Sage eyes.

"There," Tang San said, gesturing Westward. Teacher Zhao changed directions, the inertia of it throwing me off and shaking my guts.

We were following Tang San's poison trail with him pointing out the way through scent. These otherworldly skills of his was too broken in my opinion, to do the things he did, and as grave as the situation was right now, I still found it funny how so many people just chucked it up to him being a genius. He apparently planted his poison needles on all those students' robes before they ran, hence our following them now.

"We're close," Tang San said.

A moment later, we broke out into a clearing to see the same eight people with all their spirits out and in formation. Seven students, all around their late teens, faced us with grim expressions, lips pressed thin and pale, jaws clenched, and eyes all hard as stone. Their white rings were dazzling in the dark forest, and they made a spectacle to behold with the spirits they wielded: a horse, a ram, a bull, a trident, a pike, a knife, and a tiger for that one lady.

"Clear Sky sect," grease tail said and spat on the ground. He had his turtle shell facing us with all his students behind him, his five rings arrayed like a peacock's plume.

Tang San unveiled his wings, their jewel-like membranes shimmering in the moonlight and took to the sky without a sound. Those people's eyes followed him as he ascended, his two purple rings making him look like some angel of death, while Teacher Zhao remained unperturbed, only looking on. The student's knees started shaking, and my face was numb and thick from the blood rushing within me, my heart pounding with an erratic rhythm that seemed to drown out the whistling wind.

"You should understand why we're here," I said, summoning my Crown and covering myself with my Domain's amber light.

Grease tail's eyes widened with jaws clenched tight as his students all cowered behind him. He looked back at them and all tension left his shoulders as he sighed, his body rolling with the breath. A low growl turned into a long howl with all his might, his students covering their ears as tears trickled down his eyes. When he stopped, he faced the three of us with bloodshot eyes. "Curse you," he said with a guttural tone. "Curse you, Clear Sky sect!"

Teacher Zhao's purple ring shone, and they all sank to their knees as I extended Devour and Shock all over them, my range enough to cover the entire clearing as white swords and black rain fell from the skies.

His students were the first to die, all the bases of their necks and skulls pierced at the same precise location with pristine silver needles already smoking with acrid fumes, while Ye Zhi-Qiu survived the ordeal. He was impaled on the ground through all his limbs, as swords from above and below enclosed him in a cage of black and white. Teacher Zhao's gravity focused on him, and his pooling blood was pressed into the moist earth as those white swords bent and broke with his snapping bones.

He kept howling and struggling, as I raised my Hammer high, purple ring shining.

With hope, our secret was safe with this. For now.

Ye Zhi-Qiu's skull lay broken on the grass, grey matter spilled out under my golden light. I spat out the bile that came up, hissing as it burned my tongue. "It is done," I said.

Teacher Zhao put a hand on my shoulder. "Is this your first kill, little Jin?" he said.

"Human, yes," I said. "But I've… taken life before."

Tang San descended to the ground and folded his wings behind him like a pair of sapphire coattails. "On the road to Shrek," he said, "we encountered some trouble."

"I see," teacher Zhao said. "And I also see you have a spirit bone."

Tang San nodded to that, and we started going through their things and got a purse of a few hundred gold coins, and a spirit tool filled with the usual fare of those who live by the road. The only valuable thing we found was the second level Spirit Hall tile, but none else other than that.

"Let's go," teacher Zhao said, and turned to leave but Tang San shook his head.

"Teacher Zhao," I said, "I still need to clean up."

His brows furrowed as I extended Devour one by one to those bodies and warm red flowed in together with the little hints of green from the undergrowth. Teacher Zhao watched as I finished my work, each of those bodies crumbling to dust leaving only their clothes. To eat all I killed, was my way of life.

When I finished, teacher Zhao had on a scowl. "Only evil spirit masters perform such methods to further their own cultivation."

I shrugged. "Then let me be evil, but for me, all I did was honor my responsibility to the life I'd taken."

He said nothing to that, and we then burned whatever was left of their clothes, making sure everything was nothing but char when we left. We got back a few minutes after, with most of my injuries already healed, and my spirit power now at the twenty-ninth rank and half-way to thirty.

"We should change hotels," said teacher Zhao.

No one complained, and after coming around the long way through a few alleys and dark corners, we finally found a beat-up place too dirty to fill up and we all shared a big dorm-type room to spare the trouble of prying eyes. We didn't eat out anymore after that, and everyone settled for me cooking a little something for those who didn't get a chance to eat—but only after agreeing to use a different recipe.

"I can smell blood on you," Zhuqing said as she received her bowl of beef stew.

My hands froze mid-pour for Hongjun's bowl, and all eyes settled on me. "That's because we took care of those Blue Sunshine people from earlier." I finished pouring the share, and moved on to give Xiao Wu and Rongrong theirs. "Don't worry though," I said. "I don't literally have blood on me." Devour made sure of that.

Xiao Wu bit her lip, and Rongrong met my eyes without flinching. Mubai and Oscar said nothing, only taking their food with a nod and a small smile.

Tang San spoke up, "Our family holds a grudge with Spirit Hall, and had we let them live, I, Xiao Wu, and little Jin would have all come to danger, and dragged you all into our matters. It was for the best we settled this before matters got worse." He bowed low to all of them, and I paused my pouring to join, with Xiao Wu joining us.

"But worry not," I said, "in case things do escalate with Spirit Hall, we'll be sure to leave as soon as that happens and draw their ire away from you."

Rongrong grabbed my sleeve and shook her head. "I owe you my life," she said. "How can I leave you to fend for yourself to protect me more than you already have?"

I chuckled a bit and said, "Careful there Rongrong, I might mistake that for you confessing somewhat."

She went red, mouth opening and closing and could only stare back, then her eyes turned from flustered to resolute and she pinched my cheeks apart despite the redness. "Ugh, could you stop being annoying for once you little pest, I'm trying to say something important here!"

The awkward silence was filled with my groaning—and a light laughter filled the air as Rongrong gave one last tug.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy," she said with a smile.

And… I had to look away.

Mubai cleared his throat. "I'm already your big brother even if you didn't ask, so of course I won't leave my little brothers in their time of need either."

Oscar nodded. "How can I leave my business partner so soon?" he said. "Didn't you still owe me a fortune?"

Hongjun crossed his arms, smiled, and said, "And you owe me a replacement." Mubai punched him in the arm. "It's not easy to find someone who won't turn me away for my Evil Fire," he said. "Of course, I'm also on your side."

Well, that was all unexpected. I looked over at Zhuqing—who shrugged. "Spirit masters who don't look for trouble are no good," she said.

Ah, classic. "Still," I said, "Spirit Hall won't even let you rest in your graves if you cross them."

Teacher Zhao then started laughing, and said, "Little Jin, did you think I got to where I am without making enemies?" He nodded with a snort. "I too have killed my fair share of sons and masters in my youth. After all, this world is only kind to the strong."

"And what exactly is this matter that caused you to curse Spirit Hall so much?" Mubai said.

Xiao Wu clenched her fist, and Tang San shook his head. "They killed my mother, and banished our sect. Our debt is one they can only pay in blood."

"But with hope," I said, "that time won't have to come anytime soon."

Silence settled over the room, and our new-found friends just smiled—except for Zhuqing—and Tang San, Xiao Wu, and I could only accept their good will.

#

The following morning, we made our way early to Star Dou Forest's outskirts, and thankfully the rumors weren't as hot. Had someone died during the exchange though, things would've been much more different.

We were walking through the forest with cautious steps, all eyes watching for different directions to reduce blind spots as much as possible. Our formation was different from last time since teacher Zhao took the rear himself, and Tang San and Mubai lead instead as the spear head. I was behind Rongrong and Oscar near Teacher Zhao while Hongjun was in front of them, and Zhuqing and Xiao Wu guarded their flanks. We were arranged with the idea of a strong forward advance, with teacher the strongest attackers forming a pillar of force.

I had my Crown out surrounding us letting me sense everything within a thirty-five-meter diameter around us. Thanks to my two rings, the range of my normal Domain had expanded so much more from its initial five-meter radius, and feeling everything shift from the smallest rustling of grass to the breaths of those around me was something that took a lot of getting used to.

Rongrong kept looking around, vigilant and listless, and Oscar kept true to his assigned direction of forward west. Zhuqing and Xiao Wu also faithfully watch due West and East respectively, and our advanced was as strong as ever. Whenever Tang San would raise two fingers, I'd extend Shock to the front of my Domain, scaring any weaker spirit beasts away.

Mubai was Tang San's wall should anything charge up, and he kept a steady watch.

We passed a small herd of Wood Monger Squirrels, all below a hundred years of cultivation, and we circled round them.

Hongjun glanced back and raised an eyebrow.

"No need to kill what we can't and won't use," I said.

Then Tang San from ahead spoke with a low voice. "If all spirit masters keep killing spirit beasts without regard when visiting the forest, there could come a time when there are no more spirit beasts left."

Xiao Wu met my eyes, something sad flitting past her red irises, and looked away.

"Like people, we should only kill when absolutely necessary," I said. "To take life," more so those with the possibility of gaining sentience, "is a burden on the one who did the killing, and a responsibility to the one who lives on."

A few more minutes of wandering later and Tang San raised his fist and chopped forward and slightly to the left, signaling to do a focused scan in that direction.

"Something approaches," he said.

We all stopped and I stretched my Domain out to its maximum forty-five meters, and got a response. "It's moving with big lumbering steps, it has four legs and stands roughly one meter tall."

"Zhuqing," Tang San said.

The girl nodded and climbed the trees with deft and expert hands, not a hand or foot out of place. She leaped from tree to tree and disappeared, and came back a moment later. "I see a bull with curved horns and deep green fur, it has glowing yellow eyes too."

Tang San rubbed his chin before saying, "That should be an Everglade Bull, a strength type beast with a strong life force, its curved horns would signify it reaching the hundred-years cultivation, and its height of around a meter should mean it's already at the brink of the thousand years of cultivation, we should avoid this beast since it's no good for Oscar."

We followed Tang San's instruction and moved on with me probing for the bull's direction as we evaded its path.

Another few minutes and we did the same thing, me checking with my domain and Zhuqing scouting ahead.

"This time it's a snake-like beast with a cock's comb and a purple fan-like tail, it also has wings it flies with and its body is around six meters long," she said.

Light danced in Tang San's eyes, and he said, "This is good, that should be a Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent with cultivation reaching around one-thousand-eight-hundred years, it's also non-poisonous and its comb contains a great deal of nutrients."

We all nodded.

"Hongjun," Tang San continued, "birds are able to subdue serpents, so you should wait in ambush above it, and after you do, little Jin should Shock it and I'll move in to capture. Rongrong, please give us all speed boosts, and Zhuqing be ready to give chase just in case. Everyone else, make sure to watch out for danger."

We all moved into position, hiding behind some bushes as Hongjun climbed the trees.

Not a moment too soon, a red snake with wings flew in with a mesmerizing undulation—and Hongjun jumped down with his spirit out.

The snake got spooked and was confused for a moment, enough for me to extend Shock over it, making it writhe under the electrical surges. Tang San then jumped in to chop at a spot just behind its neck, and when he moved to capture it, the darn thing came awake again and a timely rush and power boost from Rongrong saved the day by knocking it out. I then stepped towards it and summoned my Hammer, to pin it down under its weight, crushing its body just a tiny bit with Mubai and his thousand-year ring holding down the snake's head.

"Your luck is good," said teacher Zhao, "you kids didn't even need me to intervene."

He passed Oscar a knife and Xiao Wu looked away just as he was about to stab it.

"Stop!" came a shrill voice.

And Oscar didn't push through with the kill. We all turned to that voice's direction, with Hongjun and Zhuqing stepping in front of me to hide my Hammer from sight. Teacher Zhao then stepped forward to hold the snake on his own, and I was able to retract my other spirit.

The voice apparently came from a granny holding a snake staff who was travelling with what looked like a really young daughter or a granddaughter, since they shared the same spirit of a snake staff, six rings behind the elder, and two rings behind the younger. The old lady had two yellow, two purple, and two black, and that was all we needed to know she wasn't gonna be as easy as that greasy ponytail guy.

"Won't you youngsters instead give that snake to us?" she said. "We injured it first and was waiting for it to weaken before striking only for you to steal our prey from us."

The girl stepped up with a sneer on her face. She was easy on the eyes and wore clothing that clung tight to her developing body. Hongjun stared at her, looking up and down every inch of her and I tapped his shoulder. "Don't perv on the lady, dude."

He sighed and looked away, stealing glances every now and then instead.

"From what I see," the old lady said, "these youngsters of yours shouldn't need a thousand-year spirit ring yet, they are much too young to be playing with a beast like this, and if you're only here to show them a kill, why not let us do so instead?"

Xiao Wu glared at the old lady, and Tang San stepped in front of her, and slowly, us melee attackers all formed a rough wall in front of our auxiliary masters, with Rongrong behind me.

"Please senior," said teacher Zhao. Hongjun did a double-take. "Our student here is actually in need of his third ring." He gestured at Oscar. "We are also equally valid with our claim after besting the beast."

The old lady's expression flashed something sinister, and I wouldn't have caught it without my Crown. Tang San shared a look with me, and I shook my head. This wasn't someone we could kill like that turtle guy, and even just a single black ring would cause me so much grief under uncle Zhi's hands.

"My deepest apologies," the old lady said—but her granddaughter didn't stop glaring at us. If I had to guess, she should be in her mid to late teens. "I didn't catch your name," she said. "I am Chao Tian-Xiang, and this is my granddaughter Meng Yiran."

Teacher Zhao's usual scowl turned into a wry smile, and he bowed—Hongjun did another double-take—before saying, "You wouldn't happen to be the Senior Serpent Grandmother?"

The fuck was with that name?

Granny chuckled and said, "I see that old nickname still comes around, and I don't suppose I've caught your name?"

Teacher bowed again. "I am Zhao Wuji," he said.

"I see," granny said, "of course a Spirit Sage so young could only be _that_ Zhao Wuji." She smiled at that, but it was anything _but_ pleased. "How about this instead, you give us that serpent, and we'll owe you a favor instead?"

Just then, that granddaughter of her spoke up. "A favor for these farts?" she said, "Why don't we just settle this issue here and now?" She had on a fierce smile full of confidence.

I rolled my eyes at her, and she glared back.

"Please, big sister," I said, "you truly didn't believe us when we said our brother here needs his third ring?"

Teacher Zhao raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Such an impertinent child," said the granny. "And I suppose this eldest brother of yours is the one who needs this ring?" She gestured at Mubai who smiled back.

"It's not I senior," he said. "I already have mine."

"What?" both grandmother and grandchild said.

Teacher Zhao sighed. "You truly looked down on us, esteemed senior," he said. "Students, why don't you show them our proof?"

We all released our rings, but Meng Yiran staring at me with a stupid look on her sure was refreshing. The grandmother though only kept looking at Tang San.

"There should be some trick," Meng Yiran said. "Two thousand year rings? What sort of illusion are you pulling?"

Teacher Zhao chuckled. "There's no trick," he said. "This little Jin of ours is simply a little monster among little monsters."

"Bullshit," the girl said, pointing her serpent cane at me.

Tang San looked at me and I sighed. "Senior Serpent," he said, bowing the grandparent's way. "Would it not be the way of spirit masters to compete for the prize?"

The old lady scoffed, and teacher Zhao smiled, she then said, "Then the person who needs this ring should instead come forward."

Oscar did so. "It is I who needs the ring, esteemed senior," he said. "But I have no attacking power as I am but a food system spirit master."

"Is that true?" she said.

"We still haven't lied," I added, and Meng Yiran glared at me once more. "Like you heard, his spirit is food and naturally has no attack, so why not fight me instead? And you can also verify whether these rings of mine are just illusions."

Her eyes darted over to Xiao Wu, then Zhuqing, Rongrong, and Hongjun.

"Assuming what you say is true," granny said, "then you should be overqualified to count in this fight."

"Normally yes," I said. "I mean, I'm sure you've never met anyone before with thousand year rings for their first two, yes?" What I said wasn't right but I wasn't about to point that out. "And I'm definitely stronger than your granddaughter there," I said, tipping my Crown to her.

"Such arrogance," Meng Yiran said, "fine then, I accept this challenge."

Her grandmother scowled for a moment, and returned to its harsh smile. "Tell me your name, boy."

I looked her straight in the eyes with the same look I'd give assholes on the road. "Tell me first of your affiliation with Spirit Hall."

She was taken aback, then narrowed her eyes. "They mean nothing to me," she said. "Nothing but power mongers."

I looked at Tang San who nodded.

"Good," I said, and she again had that baffled hint in her eyes. "I am Tang Jin."

"And what have you done to earn Spirit Hall's ire, boy? Your arrogance?"

I shook my head. "Nothing besides being born."

She scrunched up her nose. "What a peculiar child," she said.

Meng Yiran and I took up positions facing each other.

"Don't come crying for your mother when you lose," she said.

"Says the girl bullying a ten-year old," I said with a sigh.

"He's just ten?" that granny asked Zhao Wuji.

"You never asked," he said with a laugh.

The fight after that was as anti-climactic as I expected. The moment Devour and Shock touched her, the girl pretty much already lost. Sure, she had her cane, and that snake-like state she could put herself in, but under the focused light of my near-thousand and two-thousand-year spirit abilities, she was pretty much just roasted alive—though not literally. Thankfully.

Meng Yiran had on a shocked—heh—expression after the fight, only looking at me like I was something impossible on two legs, and that grandmother also had on a very evil expression. "Fine," she said. "You can keep the snake, come little Yi."

I then walked up to Oscar and whispered, "If you'll agree, I'll take responsibility to get you an even better ring than this serpent, and you can also make a good impression on the lady." He looked me in the eyes. "I'm also partly responsible for how Tang San got that near four-thousand-year spirit ring for his third, though at best I'm confident I can keep you safe up to two thousand years of cultivation, anything above that, by maybe give or take two-hundred years would be too strong for your body to handle instead."

Oscar looked over at Tang San and smiled. "I believe I owe you some faith as well."

He then ran after that grandmother and granddaughter pair and got the two to turn his way.

"Little Jin admits he cheated by fighting you with those freakish rings of his, and he and I believe we shouldn't be rude to such a pretty lady," Oscar said.

Rongrong pinched my side. "I didn't say that," I said, fending off her second hand.

"If the pretty big sister will accept, that is," Oscar said with a smile.

The grandmother shook her head and said, "Such a crafty little monster indeed. Then I believe it is that favor I offered you are after?"

I nodded to her. "Please do not forget my name, esteemed senior." I said with a bow.

She then extended her cane, her yellow ring shining. "If you want a ring for little Ao here," she said. "I could just pay off that favor here and now."

Well, it was worth a try at least.

"That depends on the spirit beast," I said.


	18. Chapter 18

Granny's yellow ring shone and a green luminescent beam shot out of her cane into the sky. It was bright against the cloudless afternoon sky, and the wind blew the tail end of the trail East into some trees, their fresh leaves going dark and shriveling up. Hongjun next to me gulped, and I couldn't help my back from getting soaked either as Rongrong tightened her grasp of my sleeve.

"My husband should be here soon," said granny, and she passed a knife over to her Yiran. "If we may be so bold as to bother you while she absorbs this?"

Zhao Wuji bowed another time, again with that shit-eating grin of his, and Yiran stabbed the serpent through its skull. The body jerked, and blood pooled where the beast laid dead. A purple ring then started condensing over its carcass, and I nodded to the rest of our group, the others taking a loose formation around her with granny and teacher Zhao guarding the front and back.

Yiran sat down to cultivate, and I then summoned my Crown and covered all of us in its golden light, expanding it to its full radius—and started breaking down the serpent's body bit by bit with my Domain. Devour was just an enhanced version of it, so the base form could also perform the same function though less efficient.

"Grandma is too kind," I said, also bowing at her using the noble's way versus earlier. Rongrong's eye twitched, and Tang San nodded my way. "I'm quite close to the thirtieth rank as well, and in case big brother Oscar's ring causes me to fight another time, it may be possible I could break through. And by then, if it would be alright to ask for help from esteemed seniors to guard me, then this would indeed be a debt on my side instead."

Granny Tian's expression turned for the better. "It is no matter," she said. "Though your causing trouble with Yiran earlier somewhat pained me, but the lesson she learned from it was just as valuable." Her smile held nothing warm behind them. "And this way, both sides win, do they not?"

I nodded with a smile.

"Tell me though boy," she said, "why did you ask earlier about Spirit Hall. And, what was that about being born?"

Mubai shifted from foot to foot, and Zhuqing's casual glances became more frequent, as an energy settled in the air, tension thickening the scent of pines with something heavy.

This was within expectations, so I showed her the level two tile Tang San and I looted off Ye Zhi-Qiu, and teacher Zhao showed the beginnings of a smirk. "I owe their academy a debt," I said, "for insulting my previous school." Hongjun turned his head Westward with a snap, looking in the distance with Xiao Wu and Oscar following. "My father's life work they called nothing but trash, so I plan to get vengeance on them in the coming Elite Academy tournament in the coming years."

Granny narrowed her eyes, but the beginnings of something sly danced on her lips. "Then I take it Zhao Wuji here shares your goal?"

I shook my head. "My purposes are my own," I said, "and I offer my strength to their school in exchange for support."

"I don't think I caught the name of this school," she said, turning to teacher. "Care to enlighten me Motionless Bright King?"

Teacher Zhao did that ass-kissing bow of his again. "Our Shrek academy is not one for Spirit Hall to notice, only a small academy."

"And yet you have two students here no older than twenty and already at the thirtieth rank," she said, gesturing to Mubai and Tang San. "And more than that you have a budding genius in this boy as well." She nodded at me.

"Outside of notice, doesn't mean without talent," teacher Zhao said with a big smile.

Another minute or so passed, and a presence touched my Domain. Just in time, teacher Zhao, granny, and Tang San all looked in the same direction I felt it from.

"A person," I said, feeling it walk with two legs.

Everyone and all tensed up, but granny raised her hands a moment later. "That should be my husband," she said.

And on cue, an old man with a long white beard stepped forth, wielding a silver staff. He looked all of us over as his eyes settled on the crumbling corpse of the snake, then Meng Yiran, the gold light surrounding all of us, and the fact I guess that we were all facing him.

"Greetings," he said to teacher Zhao with a raised eyebrow, then turned to granny. "My dear," he said, "I trust these people were courteous?"

Xiao Wu seemed to shrink back, hiding behind Tang San who stood his ground. The old man looked her way a bit too long for comfort, but turned away and approached granny instead.

"Dearest," she said, and it was kinda surprising to see her look at him that way. "These kind students here helped Yiran capture her beast, though I agreed to help this little rascal here to catch another for his brother over there." She gestured to me and Oscar in turn. "Such a remarkable pair of food system and control system spirit masters."

"I see you keep good company," the old man said with a slight bow. "And to whom do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

Teacher Zhao bowed as well, and said, "I am Zhao Wuji, and I was leading my students here and chanced on esteemed senior's chase of that serpent." Teacher indicated where Yiran was sitting with Hongjun, Mubai, and Zhuqing stood vigil. "And we agreed to a deal to mutually help each other."

Staff grandpa looked over to grandma Tian who nodded and gestured my way. "Little Jin here tried to compete with our granddaughter for the prize too, staying faithful to his brother."

He hummed to that, stroking his beard.

"But in the end, they also tried wooing our Yiran." Oscar next to me blushed, and Rongrong glared as I rolled my eyes and a stern and bright aura pressed me down. It was strong, but unlike Rongrong's grandpa Sword or grandpa Shan's Clear Sky aura, this was a walk in the park with iron shoes versus wearing said shoes while sinking towards the bottom of a lake or wearing said shoes over a wooden horse.

But that was thanks to my Domain eating some of the brunt of it, it would've been easier with Devour, but he might take it for hostile intent instead.

The old man's eyes shone. "And you say this youth here bested our dearest granddaughter?" he said.

I nodded with a smile. "That is correct esteemed senior," I said, "it was necessary for me to prove my strength always if my goal is to be achieved."

"Hmm?" staff grandpa said.

"I wish to defeat Spirit Hall academy in the future," I said, clenching my fist for effect.

Staff grandpa shared a look with granny who shrugged.

Introductions were made and for some reason, this grandpa Meng even told the story of how he met grandma Tian and their wager of a kiss. All throughout it, Rongrong would pinch me every now and then and grandpa Meng would laugh along. Xiao Wu kept her distance from him together with Tang San, even eating the food I prepared later for all of us near the edge of the clearing. It was also funny how the people we initially considered killing were now sharing a meal with us.

With the three older people, us kids got a good night's rest and the following morning, Yiran awoke together with us, her already developed body exuding a pinkish glow under the light of that new ring around her. Her body looked so soft and supple to the touch, like a handful of it was something to behold.

Then a foot stepped on mine.

"Hmph," Rongrong said, walking away.

Snickers came from Hongjun and Mubai, but Oscar didn't seem to know how to react. Zhuqing kept to herself, and Xiao Wu seemed like she didn't catch a wink of sleep last night. Tang San gave her another bowl of the same soup, and she gulped it down… even though it was the same as yesterday's.

Grandma Tian and grandpa Meng looked at their bowls with small frowns but drank anyway.

Yiran though couldn't stop cursing while praising the food. "You mean that rude boy made this?!"

When we all finished, grandpa Meng spoke up. "About this deal, my wife brokered," he said. "The beast I had marked was a Man-faced Demon Spider with cultivation greater than one-thousand years."

I looked to Tang San who put a hand to his chin. Xiao Wu was behind him, and Oscar scooted closer.

"Its venom was our target in case we didn't catch that Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent," continued grandpa Meng. "But with Yiran getting her ideal ring, I suppose if this beast suits little Ao, then it should be alright."

Tang San nodded. "It would do well for us," he said, "this kind of spirit beast is tyrannical in nature, but it's also this ferocity that might give brother Oscar something good."

Oscar raised his hand, a hint of worry on that girlish face of his. "But wouldn't a tyrannical beast like that instead be harmful to me?"

I waved a hand dismissively at him. "I did promise you I had a way of dealing with this right? What's a few days of pain versus a truly strong ring?"

Oscar nodded then stopped. "What's this about days of pain?"

Still, fuck bugs though.

Grandpa Meng led the way with Yiran and grandma Tian ran together next to me with our group even though her grandfather and grandmother were up front. It was only my luck Rongrong needed to watch the way lest she pelt me with kicks and punches. Another peculiarity was Xiao Wu sticking to the back when her usual place was next to me, but she had Tang San with her so she ought to be fine.

We found our prey an hour later, feeding on another insect. It had its head sunk guts deep into what looked like a large ant.

Just perfect.

Tang San bit his lip and looked over at me, and Xiao Wu all reserved smiled as well. The others there all just looked at the exchange.

"Why does little Jin look so upset?" Hongjun whispered to Tang San, but I heard it all.

Everyone looked at the two. We were all spirit masters here. Whispering was more for courtesy than actual function, and this I guess was too juicy a story to pass on.

"I don't mind," I said. "I'll tell you the story myself, but for now, spirit ring."

A problem though was with these three, using my Hammer was out of the question.

"And now he's smiling," whispered Hongjun.

Tang San waved him away. "Little Jin will keep pressure on the beast, and I'll bind its legs and serve as the front to keep its attention from everyone. Big brother Mubai, you won't be able to block it because the tips of its legs are usually coated with its poison, but your White Tiger Light Wave will be good for feeding it grief. I will give you that opening. Oscar, you be sure to keep supplying your detoxifying sausages, and Xiao Wu and Jin will make sure you and Rongrong stay safe. Zhuqing, please keep targeting its eyes to suppress it. Hongjun, you feed it grief too."

The elders and Yiran just watched our preparations, with teacher Zhao Wuji smiling proudly.

"Understood?" Tang San said.

We all nodded and the others released their spirits since I already had mine out.

Tang San's purple rings, both of Hongjun's yellows, one of Mubai's and Rongrong's, and both of mine all shone—and that spider feeding like a maniac was hit with an orchestra of pain. The pillar of light was the first to reach it, hitting its abdomen, as white swords and black needles approached it from all possible corners.

The spider was pushed back a bit by the beam, and black and white riddled its legs and the parts where its abdomen and thorax met. It opened its maw to mouthful of fire and a bath of gold tinged with red. Hongjun looked like log of fire sprouted from his mouth, and the insect shrank back some more seeming to twitch as its limbs started smoking.

"Keep going!" Tang San said, more black and white lines shooting out of him.

Xiao Wu and I stuck close to Oscar and Rongrong, and as expected, that spider charged out in a straight line, breaking through Tang San, Mubai, and Hongjun's attacks. Its body would make Tang San's needles and swords bounce away with metallic dings, and though Mubai could push it back, he couldn't do any real damage to it.

"Brother Mubai, Hongjun, change of plans," said Tang San, "use your attacks on the joints instead."

The two did as directed, and the spider's charge was delayed, giving all of us enough time to jump away. Xiao Wu took Rongrong in her arms, and I Oscar. A leg swung too close, but at least us two guys were who they targeted.

"Watch out," said Oscar.

And I pushed him away from another swinging leg and bent backwards low, my heart pumping like crazy. Things seemed to slow as its sharpened edge trailed a shining path just above my chest—as a line of blue flashed in and pulled the beast back.

I backflipped away, and charged forward to pull Oscar away from its rabid jaws.

A white sword lodged itself between its mouth, and more black needles stuck into its joints, again smoking. Then Hongjun appeared from above together with Mubai who grew bigger in the air and landed to on top of the spider with a heavy thud. He started scratching and punching at its abdomen, its legs twitching with each hit as Hongjun grabbed hold of its head, as if barfing down a torrent of flames onto it.

The creature's legs started scrambling, and just in time came Zhuqing who pierced through three of its eight eyes and darted away just as fast.

But then it jumped high into the air, throwing the two on its back up with it, and with a deft twist, something shot out of its ass.

I focused Devour onto that projectile and gave a quick shock to Hongjun and Mubai, while Zhuqing took my place next to Oscar and I charged in to meet the spider. Outsider or not, these two getting hurt wasn't worth the risk.

Tang San also ran towards them, and the projectile unfurled in the air to reveal a large web as the spider landed back on its legs and charged forward.

Black light condensed in my hands as I willed my Hammer into being.

When a deafening roar threw all of us off our feet. I flinched head over heels into the grass and that spider stopped in its tracks as the earth rumbled beneath my feet and thunder seemed to approach.

Teacher Zhao, grandpa Meng, and grandma Tian all moved ahead of us with all their spirits out: six, seven, eight, their first four all matching in brilliance, two yellow and two purple, and the difference then lied in how many black rings they had.\

"Fall back!" teacher Zhao said.

Someone pulled me off my feet, and granny's yellow ring and a purple one from grandpa shone. Together they sprayed the forest in front of them with a mist of green, and teacher Zhao's body grew taller than both of them covered in steeled muscles, bright and hard with his aura.

I looked up and saw Yiran about to cry, and I looked back to see a gigantic hand smash down the thicket of trees in front of us into a storm of splinters and leaves. The same deafening roar came, this time like the crack of thunder, and my feet left the ground somewhat.

Tang San brought out his wings, looks of surprises coloring our fellow students' faces, and took Xiao Wu and Rongrong on one arm each.

Rongrong looked up to him and slapped herself, bring out her spirit and boosting everyone with blue light. My body lightened, and everyone else sped up. Mubai ran over to Oscar and draped him over his shoulders as Zhuqing pulled on Hongjun's arm.

"Run!" came grandpa Meng's voice, as a black ring shone and he seemed to become entirely silver.

Another black ring shone on teacher Zhao, and his body was covered in bright gold as a large white bear with golden streaks rushed forward to meet that thick arm of black—attached to an ape that towered over the twenty or so meter tall trees.

Two yellow moons watched over us as the three we left behind were all thrown away with a mighty sweep.

"Grandpa! Grandma!" yelled Yiran, turning back, and I had to tackle her to keep her from turning back, and pulling harder to keep her safe.

Then that shadowed titan blurred, and everything went black.

I came to to a burning sensation in my side—and opened my eyes to an ant the size of a small dog eating at my bleeding gut.

I smashed it with my Hammer, and a white ring appeared from it, seeping through the juices and burning me further. I extended Devour over both its carcass and ring, absorbing both into me, the energy from it numbing the pain. Fuck. My blood was dried in some parts, and I ripped open the soaked robe to see a small cut, big enough to bleed but not enough to show guts.

I let out a shaking breath of relief and took a jar of hard alcohol out of Inventory and poured it over the wound, urging spirit power around it to ease the pain. I took off the upper part of my robes and got a roll of bandages out, and wrapped it around my stomach.

I was alive, and despite the warning signs on Interface, none were too serious to merit desperation. My head was pounding though.

I extended Domain further, only now noticing the thirty displayed on the cultivation bar. How, apt. My light extended to show claustrophobic walls surrounding me, smooth and looking as if deliberately shaped.

Because these were tunnels, and there were squirming ants just as large as that earlier one somewhere further in front.

Well, looking at the bright side, at least I had a steady supply of spirit power. The others may have ended up elsewhere, and Rongrong and Oscar worried me, everyone else had a battle spirit and should be alright—assuming they were still alive.

I tried pushing my light upwards, but it wouldn't seep through the walls. At least now I knew my Domain couldn't see through walls or earth. In hindsight, it was kinda stupid of me not to check. I extended it to its maximum single direction, and got a response of something human just beyond. Shock and Devour filled the air, scaring away those smaller ants.

Where there were ten year spirits, there would also be hundred, and possibly even thousand-years, and given the white case-like things surrounding me, it didn't take a genius to figure out this was most likely an ant nest.

I moved over as fast as I could, sometimes shuffling, sometimes jogging along the slippery walls—and found Rongrong of all people.

Fuck.

I extended Domain all over her, retracting Devour and Shock, and checked for any injuries. She had a gash on her forehead but was bleeding nowhere else. I started poking around the usual places to get injured, her limbs were all right, and her ribs were fine too. I then gently touched her head to check for any cracks or tender spots and again found none.

I washed my hands with a bit of water and opened her eye, focusing my light against that pale pink iris—and saw her pupil contract. I checked her breathing, and she was passing air alright, then I turned her over to listen for any obstructions or gurgling in her chest to indicate bleeding—and still found none. I then turned her over to the recovery position and gently poked her belly in different areas, checking for other signs of internal bleeding.

When her eyes opened and she lashed out with a punch and kick.

"What are you doing?!" she said.

And I let out a breath of relief.

"Well?" Rongrong said, her cheeks flushed and covering her chest.

"I was checking your body for any injuries, and with hope you don't feel any pain anywhere, or dizzy or nauseous." Because then we'd have a problem and I'd have no idea how to help you. Not that I knew much. But she didn't need to know that.

She pat herself once over. "And are you sure you didn't do anything at all?"

Her eyes trailed lower.

And I couldn't help but feel my cheeks warm either. "No, I didn't do anything to you," I said. "I just woke up myself." And haven't even gone through puberty in this world yet. Boy, and what an experience it'd be.

"We're in an ant nest, I think," I said, running a hand over the tunnel walls. "The walls look shaped, and there are dog-sized ants lurking about. It also released a white spirit ring when I killed it."

Rongrong's stared hard at me and sighed. "Any idea how to get out of here?" she said.

I shook my head. "Just head up, is all I can think of."

So up we went, with my golden light leading the way, the first few tunnels we found ourselves in were only slightly larger than the one we woke in, but the next ones after that were enough for me to jump in—which also meant bigger ants the size of a golden retriever at least. I killed one to test things out, and out came a hundred-year ring like I expected. I tried absorbing it through my Crown and was only able to get portions of it since my chakras felt close to bursting on the first fill. Rongrong and I didn't need to waste time here.

Interface said it was eight in the evening of the same day, and that incident with the ape happened sometime two in the afternoon.

"How long have we been down here already?" Rongrong said.

"Around six hours," I said, extending Shock forward. Some of the hundred-year ants would charge through my Domain, but a quick smash of my Hammer was enough to scare them away.

We wandered some more after that, stopping at a small chamber to eat some of our preserved foods. We were lucky to have not met anything larger, though the end of the tunnel seemed further and further.

Deeper still we found a few ants' bodies and some spirit rings scattered, and Mubai, Hongjun, Zhuqing, Oscar and Yiran all together fending off the bugs. I extended Shock and Devour beyond them, and those ants started hesitating to approach.

"You're alive!" said Mubai, tackling the two of us.

None of them looked any worse for wear, and though Oscar had his arm in a splint and Zhuqing with a bandaged leg, everyone else was still alive and kicking. Thanks to the rings and carcasses here, I should be able to keep up my Domain as long as those rings last, which should be until much later. And with this many people, digging upwards might not be as bad a proposition as earlier.

Yiran was a lot more reserved than she was earlier, and seemed to be sticking rather close to Oscar.

I smiled at them all and said, "I see you've had a taste of my luck with bugs."


	19. Chapter 19

Hongjun just looked at me and Yiran scowled, while Mubai and Oscar both tried for a smile.

Zhuqing ground her teeth, the bags under her red eyes throbbing. "This is no laughing matter," she said.

I sighed. "My dear," I said, "that's exactly why we should be joking right now."

Rongrong tugged at my sleeve, and met my eyes with a steeled glare. She shook her head and said, "Now's not the time, Jin." That soft pink glow remained beneath the tense line her lips made.

I looked around and saw how pale Oscar was and the pockmarks and gashes along the floor where Mubai's claws gouged the stone. The girls were a lot better off, but their dirtied shoes and clothes helped drive the image home. Also, Hongjun kept away from them as much as possible and seemed to pant every now and then as well.

I sighed, scratching my head, and said, "Sorry." Right. Laughing about their problems wasn't for everyone, and neither was it for every time.

Mubai renewed his smile with more sincerity.

Oscar clapped me on the shoulder. "Me and Yiran woke up together and found fatty soon after," he said, nodding to the two. "We then met up with boss Dai and Zhuqing fighting ants, and helped them make a stand here in this chamber."

That wasn't very smart, but who the hell knew about dog-sized ant behavior anyway? Not me for sure.

"How'd you break your arm?" I asked.

"I woke up with it already hurt," Oscar said.

"Can I see?"

Oscar nodded, and showed me his arm. I washed my hands again before unwrapping the well-tied bandages, and saw his arm swollen. Good thing the bone didn't exit his skin. I poked the skin around it and Oscar winced, there were no overly horrible reactions, which meant this was most likely just a hairline fracture.

"It's broken, but it's nothing too bad," I said.

"Yiran said the same thing," he said, looking over to her.

"Thanks," I said.

She nodded, hands clutched tight at her serpent staff—then clenched her teeth towards the direction of the tunnel.

An ant pushed through my Domain and got in, and I threw my Hammer at it, crushing the bug under its tyrannical weight as a white ring floated up where it's carcass laid. I then recalled my spirit to my hands. "And I might've forgotten to mention I had twin spirits, but that's not important right now."

She opened and closed her mouth and I sicced Oscar on her. Better she found out now—even if it's a lie—than later after we meet up with her grandparents.

We needed to do all of three things right now: get out of here, find our comrades, and stay alive. At worst, maybe even need to get Hongjun laid lest he die. Which wasn't happening at all unless we either convinced one of the girls here, or we do get out and find him somewhere.

Going through my list of contingencies, there was: digging ourselves out, blowing a hole through the tunnel using that vial of nitroglycerin I had, or finding the exit all by ourselves. The first option was risky in that we could end up causing a cave-in. The second option… was just as bad since I never really got to try the stuff outside of a few drops at a time. And the last, was the safest but most tedious, and increased the risk of encountering trouble.

I slapped myself once to clear my head, then clapped to get everyone's attention. "Okay, I believe we have three ways out of here."

Mubai faced his back to us. "I'll watch the entrance."

Zhuqing looked at him longer than I'd seen her do before, and turned to where Hongjun, Yiran, Oscar, Rongrong, and I had our little strategy meeting.

I held up two fingers. "The first two are the safest: we can dig ourselves out, or try looking for the exit."

Rongrong nodded. "Jin's Crown is enough to provide light, and his two abilities had been effective at keeping most of the ants we encountered away."

"If we do so though," I said, "you all need to avoid fighting as much as possible."

Everyone gave me the evil eye, including Rongrong and Oscar.

"We can fend for ourselves," Zhuqing said. Lady was on a roll.

"It's not that," I said. "I can recover my spirit power as I fight through my abilities, but you guys aren't as versatile as me."

"It's true," Rongrong said. "He's been maintaining his two abilities since we woke up around two hours ago."

Yiran's eyes went wide at that, and blurted out, "You've been maintaining two thousand-year abilities for that long?"

"Eh," I said, "yeah, sure whatever. Just keep up with the program."

Rongrong shook her head and Zhuqing rolled her eyes but at least I got Hongjun to smile. A fucked-up situation didn't need to be made any heavier than it already was.

"I'm kidding," I told the scowling Yiran. "But yes, what monstrous consumption my Hammer takes up is offset by what my Crown replenishes. As long as I have something to feed on."

"What do you mean feed on?" Yiran said, somewhat unsure.

"Jin can absorb everything, spirit ring or carcass together," Rongrong said. "I never knew how much of a monster he was before this."

"Are you regretting having my aunt pair you up with me now?" I told her with a wry smile.

She let out a huff instead, her usual pretty girl aura falling back to that crass nymph flipping everyone the bird. "No," she said, "but I'm sure grandpa Sword and father will be even more onboard this idea later."

Oscar blinked hard at that, and said, "You two were engaged?"

At the word, Zhuqing seemed to fidget somewhat, and Mubai slipped when he beat back the last ant that got through so I had to throw my Hammer over again.

"No," I said.

"Yes," Rongrong said.

Silence.

"And here I thought little Jin was a comrade," Hongjun said with a pout.

"Wait what?!"

"I'm kidding," Rongrong said, sticking her tongue out. "How could a princess like me save face with getting engaged to someone younger by two years?"

"To be fair," I said, "I'm a prince too, coming by your standards, and I even have a Crown to prove it."

Zhuqing cleared her throat, and said, "Please get back on topic."

Silence. Then Zhuqing glared at me.

"Right, so I can recover spirit power as we move," I said. "And you all will have to conserve yours in case we encounter something really big or an ant with a thousand years or more of cultivation. You know, the usual killer shit you might encounter in a spirit beast forest. Except multiplied by ten since we're in their damned nest."

Oscar shook his head. "I'm sensing a lot of tension here," he said with a smile.

Then Yiran glared at him, and he raised his hands in defeat.

"And digging?" Hongjun said.

"It's a bad idea since we don't know how deep we are," I said. He and Oscar shrugged. "And it could cause the tunnels to collapse."

"Ah," Hongjun said.

"And the third?" Yiran said.

"The third is, I have explosives," I said.

Zhuqing's expression went from annoyed to surprise then shock in a flash, then shook her head and returned to her scowl.

"That's a bad idea," Mubai said while beating back another ant.

"I vote for finding the exit," Rongrong said, pursing her lips.

"I vote for digging," Yiran said.

"Why do you even _have_ explosives?" Mubai said over the sound of crying ants.

"What are explosives?" Oscar asked.

"Those are weapons of war," said Zhuqing, looking at me as if I just stepped on a cat's tail and laughed after. "Able to kill spirit masters below rank twenty should it explode near them."

"Well," I said, to think explosives were that weak here… not that I had any plans of using it on people. Still, rank twenty wasn't much. "I was hoping to use it for mining, and this seems as likely a use."

"Why would you use something that costs ten gold spirit coins a jin for digging holes?!" said Mubai.

I am so making a fortune in the future. "Because I don't enjoy killing people?"

"Fine," Zhuqing said, "but I don't think shooting a hole at the tunnel's roof will work unless we know how deep we are."

"I don't need to shoot anything," I said. "I just need to a dig a hole and set it up. But I don't have a lot of it, just a jar's worth."

"A jar?" said Zhuqing. "Why would you have a jar? That won't do anything."

Wait, what? "Are we talking about the same explosive here?" I took my vial of nitroglycerin out, making sure to enclose it in spirit power to avoid any accidents, and held it out to them.

"What is that?" said Rongrong, tilting her head.

"This is the explosive I was talking about."

"I don't recognize that at all," said Zhuqing. Which is understandable since I haven't been able to package it in an inert and easy to use form yet.

"This is what it looks like if you haven't turned them into sticks yet," I said, and put it back into my ring.

"Sticks?" Rongrong said. "Don't you mean barrels?"

I looked at Zhuqing who nodded as well.

"I don't understand anything," Hongjun said.

I narrowed my eyes at Zhuqing, then summoned the glass jar of gunpowder I'd mixed way back. "Did you mean this by any chance?"

She nodded. "You mean that white stuff you showed me turns black?"

Okay. So, I guess the idea of high explosives still hadn't occurred to them. "No," I said, "this is different. Much stronger."

"As a last resort, maybe," Rongrong said.

We then agreed to have me lead our party of six while Mubai took up the rear. This was to take advantage of my ability to stretch out my Domain to check for any paths further in, and to have me decide where to go. Sadly, even doing this, up and down was still unclear because tunnels that lead up would later lead down and lead to chambers that would have passages in three or four directions. Trying to map out the place with Interface's memory was also hard since depth was something abstract for me in a place where everything looked the same.

Hongjun kept turning redder and redder as time went on.

An hour or so into things, someone finally spoke up.

"The last time we encountered an ant was back in that last chamber with the eggs," said Mubai from behind. "How come we still haven't found any?"

That was beginning to grate at me too. "I don't know," I said. "But I really just don't detect any anywhere."

We'd been going up and down and back tracking to the last chamber whenever we encountered a dead-end, and still no exit in sight.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Yiran said.

And Hongjun was starting to look redder than earlier.

"Fatty, are you alright?" Oscar said.

"I'll be fine," he said.

Rongrong stuck close to me, hand clutched at my arm, while my other held my Hammer.

"We'll get out of here soon enough," I said. "Perhaps Oscar's detoxifying sausages might help?"

"It's worth a try," Hongjun said. Oscar passed him a sausage and he ate it, the bright red abating somewhat a moment later. "It helps but not by much."

"What about if I try taking it from you?" I said.

"I'm not so sure," Hongjun said.

"It's still worth a shot," I said. When he nodded, I activated Devour on him, and red hot energy flowed into me, though not the same hue as life force. Instead, it was a more… unbridled and ferocious color.

"It only hurts," said Hongjun, and neither did I detect anything strange from what I took from him.

"Then keep eating my sausages for now," Oscar said, passing him a few more.

We continued our way through the chambers and tunnels, and still no ants. We couldn't tell which way was right and we also found ourselves back-tracking more often, but when we found an extra-large chamber almost the size of a basketball court, we at least saw the cause of our earlier confusion.

"Fuck," Mubai said. "Is that the same spider we fought earlier?"

There by the further end of the space was a Man-faced Demon Spider fighting an ant larger than the two-meter tall insect. Where the spider jumped, and slashed with its legs, this ant would stand its ground and shoot out blasts of yellow liquid, making the spider's body smoke.

Lots of other dead ants surrounded the two, and when the spider got hit, it would snatch up a corpse, ring and all, and eat it, before coming back to the fight.

"That spider reminds me a lot of you," Oscar said with a weak smile.

I shuddered at the comparison. "I can't tell the cultivation on that ant, but it should be much higher than the spider's." Assuming it could survive god knows how long while fighting it.

"I think the exit should be near," said Zhuqing, sniffing at the air. "I can smell foliage from this chamber. And the wounds on that spider's eyes are the same I gave the other before."

"I think we should avoid fighting for now," I said.

Killing those two now seems to be the best option here, but there was also going back. From what Zhuqing said though, this could be our ticket out, and given how hell-bent that spider was from passing through—or at least just killing the ant in front of it—that might be a possibility sure as hell looked hell-bent on getting to that chamber, and so too did the ant look just as resolved with keeping it here. Going back would also mean risking getting lost some more, and time was something not all of us had.

Granted, there _was_ a way to solve this issue of time, but it wasn't a decision I was willing to make, or an act I was willing to condone should it come to that. To kill was a sin I could bear myself, but _that_ … that was something I should never do.

"Can we take them down?" said Hongjun, snacking on a Saveloy, his reddish tone earlier was a lot more pronounced now.

"Even if we do," I said, "absorbing those rings could take me and Oscar a day or two, assuming we can even kill them, and I don't think we have that much time."

"I have my ways," Hongjun said with a thumbs-up, firm. "Getting you and Oscar stronger would instead increase our chances should you need to keep going after this."

Mubai walked up to Hongjun and clapped him on the shoulder. "Sit this one out, fatty. We should keep you from exhausting your spirit power."

Hongjun shook his head. "My Evil Fire is at its hottest, and any help I can give you now is more points to my pride later."

Killing pests was one such skill I could say with confidence I had experience with, and an ant and a spider, were in the end still insects—even if these two were god knows how old and could use freakin' magic like abilities.

So, coming back to that vial of nitroglycerin…

"Tell me," I said, "what do you have in those spirit tools of yours, everyone?"

Besides the usual clothes, rations, and money, Yiran had a satchel of medicinal leaves which were of no use to anyone right now, while Rongrong had a flare for calling her clansmen with. It was good for an unexpected find, because the colors and intense burn—at least I'm assuming it's enough to disorient—should distract the two insects long enough. Other than those though, no one else had anything else useful.

Me though, I had quite a few.

Two sacks of flour I could use to create a dust explosion with, eight sacks of iron ore amounting to around three hundred or so kilograms I can drop freely in and out of my domain, Tang San's Godly Zhuge crossbow, my vial of nitroglycerin and jar of gunpowder, the tent I could use as another distraction, and even my bed I could use as a last resort. I also had some skins of alcohol I intended for cleaning wounds, but could also set fire to even if they wouldn't be as useful.

"Why do you even have so much?" Rongrong said with her eyebrows in a knot, holding up the sack of flour.

"You never know when they'll be useful," I said, passing the crossbow to Oscar. "Pull the trigger, and make sure that square shaped end is pointed at the spider, only pull the trigger after I say so."

Oscar nodded.

"You can pull the trigger twice, and it'll shoot sixteen bolts each," I said. "Boss Dai, I'll need you to make a hole in that ant's armor large enough for me to get into."

"Did I hear that right?" Mubai said.

"Yes."

"And me?" Hongjun said.

"I'd really rather you sit this one out," I said. "Bug remains are _really_ flammable, and they also stick to your skin long after you've killed them."

"I'm afraid to ask why you would know that," Yiran said.

"Yiran and Hongjun, I need you two to keep Rongrong safe. Zhuqing, you're in charge of keeping Oscar alive in that scramble. Rongrong, you need to boost me and Oscar with speed, and save your strength boost for boss Dai. I'm not so sure I can keep myself from killing that spider in case I get buffed. After that I'll need to crack open its head and have Oscar shoot its brain with the crossbow, and with hope boss Dai will already have opened a hole anywhere on that ant and I can take it from there."

They all nodded, and good lord I wish I could fly right now.

"We need to make sure Oscar has killed the spider first before I go for the ant. We'll open up the attack with my explosive, and start from there, are we clear?"

Another round of nods.

Dearest god I hope this works.

Both the ant and spider were already bloody, but neither backed down and both looked just as deadly as ever. Now that I had a good luck at things, the injuries on the spider were mostly from getting body checked into the surrounding rocks, while the ant's legs and thorax had deep gouge marks on them, some leaking blood. Its armor was thick to have resisted this long, and thinking about it now, did we even have the firepower to deal with them right now? The spider was a sure bit, but the ant?

Doing this with Tang San was a lot easier, and just now I realized how much I relied on him to keep me safe.

Then it hit me.

"Hongjun, what rank are you right now?"

"Eh? I just recently broke through the twenty-ninth rank after what happened to all of us."

Rongrong raised an eyebrow at me, and everyone else seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"Yeah," I said. "You'll die anyway if we can't do something about that Evil Fire of yours, right?"

Hongjun swallowed hard. "Little brother, you can't be serious."

"If you can convince the ladies here," I said. "Then you'll be just fine."

At that, the girls all looked at both him and me with disgust, and Oscar spoke up, "That's low, Jin."

"I know," I said. "But can any of you really make that decision here?" I looked at all of them, and how seemingly close to bursting Hongjun was. "At least this way, if you fail, you still get to go out in a blaze of glory, right?"

"But those two should both be at least two thousand years of cultivation, right?" Mubai said. "These two trying to absorb those rings could only end up causing them to die."

"I'll take responsibility," I said. I watched grandpas Shan and Lin perform the Refining Method before, and even if I couldn't do it, then there was still Devour. I just don't know how much I can take.

Mubai closed his eyes. "You're asking Hongjun and Oscar to entrust you with their lives," he said through clenched teeth.

"And does anyone else have a better plan?"

No one said anything.

"I'll take responsibility," I said again, and flared both rings in full. "Change of plans, Mubai, you and Zhuqing need to fight the spider together, Hongjun, you join them. I'll take the ant on alone. You guys kill that spider as fast as possible and help me after. Yiran, I'll owe you a major favor later as the future master of the Clear Sky sect, so please protect Rongrong in my stead."

Rongrong blushed a bit. "I've been training to make myself useful in battle," she said. "I can take care of myself, instead, perhaps big sister Yiran should join the fight instead?"

Yiran looked all of us in the eyes. "I'm not really part of your group, but this little time we've been together we'd already risked life and limb for each other, how can I as a senior remain aloof?" She breathed out and shook her head, it was a start. "Thanks to that serpent you provided me," she continued, "my third spirit skill is able to endow you with an empowering venom that will increase attack and spirit power for ten percent for five minutes with no ill effects."

Oscar frowned a bit.

"Wasn't I going to get you a much stronger ring?" I said.

Oscar sighed. "Why would you go to such lengths for me?" he said. "All I ever did for you was make sausages, I don't think it merits you risking yourself so much for the both of us." He gestured to both himself and Hongjun.

"Don't you think you're taking too much onto yourself," Hongjun said with a sad smile.

Mubai kept clenching his teeth, then he punched the ground. "Fuck this," he said. "Yiran, why don't you just sleep with Hongjun already?!"

All three girls looked at him the same they did me earlier.

"Why don't _you_ sleep with him then," Zhuqing said.

"I'm not a girl!" Mubai said.

"Then why not offer him your butt if you're so willing," Rongrong said. And yes, that did confirm that anal was a thing here. All hail progress.

"This is no laughing matter, Jin," Zhuqing snapped.

"My bad," I said. "And have you ever tried masturbating to get rid of the Evil Fire?"

Everyone seemed to blush under my golden light, and the sounds of the spider and ant fighting filled the air for a long moment.

Hongjun shook his head. "It doesn't work that way," he said.

"Then if we can't quell the fire," I said, "why not consume it instead? Have you ever tried that?"

"I have," he said, grave.

"Have you ever tried consuming your own life force to breathe out your flames?"

"You would dare me to risk my life?"

"You're gonna die anyway, right? What do you have left to lose?"

Hongjun bit his lips hard, drawing blood. "Fuck me," he said. "Fine, I leave my life in your hands." He then turned to Oscar. "You don't have to risk trying this ring, there's also such a thing as living on to try again."

Oscar's eyes went red, then he smiled. "Stupid fatty," he said. "How can I let my brother walk this valley alone?"

Oscar started passing out his recovery and detoxification sausages, and I assembled my make-shift bomb, submerging the nitroglycerin vial in the wine skin, and I strung in a bandage soaked in it. I had half a liter's worth in that vial, and it better do some damage.

When we were all ready, I set fire to the Molotov cocktail and threw it at the two fighting insects.

"After the bang," I said, "rush in!"

Everyone nodded, and both our prey turned at the same time, as the bag exploded with a large bang with barely any fire that threw the spider hard against the ceiling and pushed the ant back two meters from where it stood.

Fuck, that was tough.

We all ran towards our targets, and as we did, Mubai spoke up, "What the fuck was that?!"

Zhuqing behind him was still covering her ears.

"An explosive," I said.

"That was no explosive!" he said.

"That's not important right now," I said, and jumped towards him.

Mubai's purple ring shone, and as his body expanded, he stretched out his arm as I landed on it, and he swung hard.

I flew through the air and summoned my Hammer, filling it with spirit power as I extended Devour and Shock to both those insects.

The first to react was the spider who lunged for my flying figure but got pushed back by a beam of light tinged with red. My own purple ring shone, filling my Hammer with crackling electricity.

From the cloud of dust, the ant's jaws appeared—and I summoned a sack of iron ore from Inventory into its mouth.

It closed its jaws and broke the stones, but it was too late for it to block.

I hit its dog-sized head dead center and smashed it to the ground, and I landed on its thorax. I then summoned a sack of flour and scattered it into the air. With my Domain, I didn't need to see. I then created a black Nail and smashed it down hard onto its body, as a metallic sound echoed.

The ant shook me off, then a leg lashed out and hit me in the stomach, but I locked my Hammer onto it and grabbed hold. The whiplash dizzied me but I created another Nail and smashed it hard against the joint, drawing blood.

The ant rolled over and I had to roll away myself. When the dust cleared, there was Mubai smashing the spider's head down as Zhuqing had all her claws sunk into its eyes. It had a large crack on the underside of its abdomen, having received the full brunt of the bomb, maybe.

A pair of jaws just right to crush my torso appeared and met another sack of ore, and I lashed out with the first swing of Disorder Splitting Wind, deflecting the ant's charge again to the ground. It then swung its body at me, and I flew into the wall—my entire body riddled with pain.

The spider was completely on fire now, and Hongjun's purplish flames were deep and vibrant, looking every bit as evil as he described. It kept screaming as Mubai finally tore off one of its legs and used that to stab into its abdomen. To the side was Yiran nursing a bleeding leg and Rongrong helping her move away from the fight.

I pushed myself off the rocks and saw the ant charging straight at me, and I summoned the tent to just in front. The insect got a face full of hard linen but a burst of smoking yellow fluid tore the textile to shreds as I lashed out with a Thunder Heart Strike at a wounded leg.

Bang! It hit with a satisfying crunch and the ant lost balance for a moment. I recovered into a second swing and filled my Hammer with spirit power, letting it get as heavy as I could in that moment and hit the joint of another leg—but couldn't crack it.

The ant rolled over again, and I couldn't avoid it in time. Shit tons of weight steam rolled me with ant blood, vomit, and dust, and my insides were thrown into disarray as my eyes seemed to pop from their sockets.

When it cleared me, I shot the flare at its face and jumped away, shuffling towards the opposite direction. It scrambled and kicked out at random, never really hitting anything.

Everything burned as that yellow goo clung to me, and it was only thanks to Devour that I got it off in time, though my skin was now pink and raw. Red alarms filled Interface, and the spider was now three legs short but still kicking. Oscar had a bloody and purplish arm, and was eating a sausage while Hongjun grabbed hold of the spider and just kept barfing flames all over it and into its wounds. Then in came Mubai covered in green goo and flames and flipped the damned thing.

When the ant started rushing for them, I summoned a Nail and shot it at its eye.

It dodged.

"Come and get me you piece of shit!"

The ant renewed its charge, this time at me, jaws at the ready.

I started gathering momentum with my Hammer and completed two swings before the ant arrived.

As its jaw was about to enclose, I met it with my Hammer and another Thunder Strike.

We clashed, and one of the ant's jaws was flung off but its other stabbed into my right as more yellow goo sprayed me. Fuck. Burning pain immediately spread. Shit.

I drew more spirit power, and smashed my Hammer again at its head with Thunder Strike and cracked the armor, as more and more of that yellow goo started covering me, faster than Devour could degrade it.

Then the ant charged into me, further burying its jaw.

I vomited blood and swung to the left of its face and cracked its head some more with another Thunder Strike as my skin started showing red at places.

It threw me away and my consciousness was starting to fade, but I screamed hard as I retracted my Domain and covered the ant completely with it, Devour and Shock on full, as I pushed my face off the dirt.

I stood up anyway despite the pain, and the ant seemed to back away. Whatever I could spare, I poured into my wounds, hoping against hope Mubai and the others would finish their fight before mine did. The ant wasn't charging, and my gold light didn't leave it. I had less than half spirit power remaining, but it felt much less than that.

The ant was turning, as if to leave, and I summoned my last sack of flour and threw it at the beast.

A white cloud burst out, and I shot a Nail at it, igniting the entire thing in a big plume of flames.

"What the fuck was that?!" said Mubai, rushing past me, together with Hongjun and Zhuqing.

Red light then filled my limbs, and a dirty sausage founds it way in my hands.

"Eat," said the goddess, and Rongrong shoved that meat stick down my throat. Holy shit I could kiss this lady right now!

Right behind her was Oscar limping towards us, and Yiran who hit me with her staff, her purple ring behind her aglow.

Electricity filled my veins, and my dwindling spirit power rose back up. The pain was already starting to fade from my side, and that shot just now filled my head with clarity. I felt like a million bucks.

"I'll be right back," I said.

I rushed back into the fight swinging my Hammer in wide circles as Mubai stabbed his claws into the sides of the ant's head and pried its mouth apart, then Zhuqing stabbed its eyes and all the other wounds it had and Hongjun covered the entire thing in flames.

When I reached it, I swung my Hammer up to flip the thing.

"Rank?!" I said.

The ant turned over to its side and Mubai finished the flip.

"Still at the twenty-ninth," Hongjun said.

"Keep hitting it!"

Mubai kept his hold, arms stretched taut and all his veins bulging. I then proceeded to pound away at the damned thing's legs, taking them off one by one as Zhuqing ensured everything was surgically fucked. Rongrong's light was too good, and we made short work of the limbs. When Hongjun started vomiting blood himself, his entire body started burning purple, and the ant wailed into the air as the foul smoke filled my lungs.

"It's done!" Hongjun said finally.

I then jumped up to pin the thing's head down, and Hongjun then gave that damned thing a French kiss of hellfire.

The ant stopped twitching after that.

But there was no rest for the wicked.

"Do it!" I said, the blood already wetting my pants.

Hongjun nodded and started absorbing the still forming ring, and I kept Devour trained on him and the ant. Deep brown entered me and I brought Core out to its fullest, filtering as much as I could to help repair the damage. All this time, Oscar would keep passing his recovery sausages to everyone, and Hongjun would also spit blood out every now and then.

When I recovered enough, to not fall over, I jumped over to Hongjun and filtered spirit power through my Hammer, urging it to cycle in him, making sure to avoid anything too delicate.

"Rongrong," I said, both hands on Hongjun, "please pour water all over me." I summoned some water skins in front of her. "This ant vomit is still burning."

She did and it alleviated the burning some more, and Devour took care of the rest. Hongjun spat out some more blood, and I pushed in more of the Clear Sky aura around him. All it seemed to do was keep his body together, and where that deep brown would lash out, I would then absorb and push back.

When Rongrong emptied out all the water, I then summoned some cuts of cloth over my wound, and held it with one hand. "Boss Dai, please wrap me up."

My fingers were starting to get cold, but the inflow of spirit power kept my consciousness up, and more red light strengthened my awareness. I smiled Rongrong's way, and the deep brown bent to the will of my aura. Hongjun spat out some more blood, but lesser this time, and it relieved me somewhat.

Eight hours pass with me continuously Devouring at that purple ring, and Mubai finally finished dragging over the spider's corpse—ring and all to our area. Good thing there weren't any ants yet, and Hongjun's red tone was instead now a pink tinge, his spirit power getting consumed together with keeping his new ring at bay.

It was a stroke of genius when I filtered everything through Pranus Core and my chakras that it occurred to me to use that energy then to reinsert to Hongjun, and it helped keep his spirit power up. Given this, I now had a way to allow others some access to my external spirit power recovery, though it still needed some refining.

I stopped supporting Hongjun when stopped spitting blood.

"Your turn," I told Oscar.

He slapped himself and sat in front of the spider, then got to work.

The first thing that happened was he vomited blood, and he quickly turned purple. Thank god I already had some practice. I immediately inserted the Clear Sky aura into him, making sure to keep that sinister purple at bay, while taking its outbursts and filtered it before giving it back to him. The process was no less intensive than Hongjun's, where his energy was deep and profound, this one was sharp and ferocious. It then occurred to me that I might have made a mistake with giving them the rings, but it was already too late.

If I made a mistake, then it was on my head.

The bleeding had already stopped for my gut, and though the wound was still there, the alarm in Interface was already out of the red. I stayed awake through the entire process, never leaving Oscar or Hongjun without Devour's light to help keep the sinister energies away from them.

Another seven hours later, the two awoke together, Hongjun with a resplendent and deep purple aura, and Oscar with a ferocious and bright red. That didn't make sense to me one bit when the other absorbed a spirit beast of the other's color.

"Congratulations," I said, "you both are now officially monsters." I fell back into Rongrong's arms already waiting for me.

"You did it," she said, smiling. This wasn't so bad—despite feeling as if I just ran a marathon with my brain or something.

"You really did," Mubai said, touching his palm to his forehead. "This… this is a miracle."

Zhuqing smiled—actually smiled, for once, though her hands were clenched bone white. "Thank you," she said.

Hongjun sat down next to me, tears streaming down his face. "Little brother is too good," he said. "You allowed me to absorb a three-thousand-year ring," he said, squeezing my hand in his. A purple ring floated behind him, and his skin was back to its healthy color without a tinge of pink.

Oscar too sat down, though less dramatic. He scratched his head and said, "Little brother is really too good." He spoke slow and clear, eyes clear like ice. Hongjun nodded beside him. "You didn't just give me a two-thousand-year ring, but you also gave me an external spirit bone."

Eight crystal blue legs sprouted out of his back, tearing his tunic apart. Then Oscar hugged me, making sure his spider legs—oh dear god—didn't touch me, and so did Hongjun. Rongrong fidgeted from the combined weight—and also maybe because I could feel her chest pressed onto me. It was… not unpleasant.

Yiran just looked on without a word.

The two then broke off and Hongjun clapped my shoulder hard. "And worry not, brothers, everyone," he said. "Jin here truly is too good." His left arm took on a deep brown glow marked with purple hints. "I too obtained a spirit bone, and its ability could also be used for digging through earth."


	20. Chapter 20

"A ring," I said, "I need a spirit ring." I pointed at the chamber the big ant left open, and Rongrong and Hongjun helped me walk over. My injuries were kept in check by my mostly recovered spirit power, but knitting the damage would take a lot more energy than just Oscar's sausages could provide. Right now, I needed to look after myself, Tang San and Xiao Wu could wait.

Mubai and Zhuqing walked behind us together, while Yiran and Oscar took the front. That was something I only joked about, but who knew?

Hongjun leaned over. "If by any chance, you can get me a lady, I won't mind either," he said with a naughty smile.

Rongrong cuffed him. "Yi, you just got a spirit bone and yet you ask for more?" She had one cheek puffed up but the light step in her brows said she wasn't pissed for real.

"Calm down, Hongjun," I said, "we're still kids. Thinking of marriage is way too forward at this age."

Hongjun shook his head. "And yet you and Rongrong are already together, and so does boss Dai and Zhuqing seem to be getting on. And did that mean Yiran from a few days ago just turned around?"

The suspension bridge effect sure worked its magic this time.

"And of course, Tang San has Xiao Wu," he said.

"Rongrong and I aren't like that," I said, and looked at her, "yet."

She raised an eyebrow at me and smirked, saying nothing more.

"Bah," Hongjun said, "this poor handsome phoenix!"

We entered a passage of smooth stone, and the smell of fresh water and greenery wafted from further in.

Inside, we saw an oasis-like room enshrining a gigantic ant with a swollen abdomen—the queen. She took up most of the room, with her lower-end submerged in a stream fed pool filled with white sacs, eggs, and a thick carpet of moss covered everywhere, keeping the air fresh. She didn't move to attack, only trailing her head as we moved. Smaller ants kept moving in and out from behind her, the same ten-year variety I kept scaring away earlier, and some still moved up to feed her.

She looked like she sat on a throne of stone and green, her legs splayed on the ground and the remnants of her wings behind her. Its body was a good six or seven meters long, versus the three of the ant earlier, and coming from what Hongjun said, it was possible she was at six or seven thousand years of cultivation.

Seeing things were clear, we all stood around the edge of the pool, just outside of the queen's immediate range.

"Looks like we found your ring," said Mubai. "And it's a fitting one for a prince."

Zhuqing rolled her eyes, and said, "You should go and absorb it fast, you've been limping all this time and the bleeding still hasn't stopped.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, as if the blood red warnings in Interface didn't say enough. But what I said was, "Of course, here we go again."

Grandpas Shan and Lin weren't here, and neither was Tang San, which meant I only had me to rely on. Maybe Oscar's sausages, and Rongrong's light? Still, finding Tang San and Xiao Wu was our priority right now, and with Hongjun's new bone, getting out should be a cinch. Getting a ring though was quite a risk for me to take at this moment, but it meant long-time damage for me, or a risk that might spell life or death for the two still missing.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were both strong, and even without cultivating with full intent, Xiao Wu had no problems keeping up with me who pretty much tried everything I could to keep getting stronger, and Tang San was simply a monster among monsters.

Everything considered, the best thing to do would be to cover as much ground as we can while I tried to recover.

"Everyone," I said, "Maybe we should split up?"

They all looked at me.

"I'd rather not leave you," Rongrong said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"This ant queen here might possibly be a ten-thousand-year beast since I can't tell its age. And if it is, and I don't have my family's help, then it would take a me a long while to at least get healed enough to move properly. Instead, I think it best you leave me here for now and just come back later. Our highest priority should be to regroup with everyone else first."

Oscar came forward. "How could I be your big brother if I let you fend for yourself?" he said. "Thanks to you, I too am able to fight now, and you also saved Hongjun from his predicament. How could we save face if we let the youngest among us give so much and get nothing back?"

Hongjun nodded. "If even now you still think of us, then consider us thinking of you as well, take your ring, and we'll be sure to find the others as well."

Zhuqing nodded, and Mubai spoke up, "I'll be sure to protect everyone as the eldest, though the position of strongest seems to quickly slip through my fingers."

Yiran shrugged. "A little monster like you actually has time to worry about us as you fight a spirit beast by yourself," she said. "I'm not so sure I can measure up to that, Clear Sky heir."

I couldn't help a wry smile. It was nice to see people cared. But still, I couldn't stop worrying myself. Truth be told, this nest was most likely the safest place in the forest right now besides being far away from it, and if we can create some manner to signal we were here…

"Okay," I said.

Considering our line-up, Mubai would be needed for blocking, and Hongjun for both digging and ranged attack. Yiran would also be necessary in case the group encountered the two oldies, and Zhuqing would be best for scouting. Oscar is the least ideal for their party, but they'll never know when they'll need healing. Rongrong shared the same status, and if we wanted to keep the two safe, keeping them here was best. However, I would surely be incapacitated until I finish absorption, and though Oscar just gained something he can fight with—because those legs were so damned sharp and pointy—I doubt he can be much use in a fight right now.

And in case anything horrible showed up, then whoever was left here with me was screwed. Not having Tang San was this fucking hard, dammit.

"I believe boss Dai, Zhuqing, Hongjun, and Yiran should all go, and Oscar and Rongrong should stay," I said. "Frankly, this place is the safest right now, and I'm more worried about the ones who'll go up top."

"No," Mubai said. "I think I should stay and Oscar and Rongrong should instead go with the rest. I am both able to defend and attack, and am best suited to keep you safe, while adding Rongrong and Oscar's strengths to the party should allow them to fill the gaps I leave behind." He turned to Oscar and Hongjun. "Quick, tell us what your new abilities are?"

A light shone in Oscar's eyes and he said, "Hongjun, would you like to go first?"

Hongjun raised his eyebrows at him and shrugged. "That's alright," he said. "My third ability is called Phoenix Burst Breath, and it allows me to spray a ten-meter distance with a thirty-degree arc in front of me with a concussive blast of fire for fifteen percent spirit power, and it also keeps the adhesive and corrosive properties of my first two rings while adding another explosive property. While my left arm bone can perform a cleaving attack with a range of one meter for five percent spirit power."

"Damn this fatty," Mubai said while punching Hongjun in the arm. "You'll really make big bro lose face like this!" The two laughed out loud with Oscar joining in, and Zhuqing stayed at the sidelines, only staring at me.

Yiran shook her head. "I'm starting to regret taking that serpent," she said.

"And yet if you hadn't," I said, "how could we have defeated those two sprit beasts earlier? That gentle stimulating ability of yours sure pulled the gap for us in that last fight."

All this while, the queen only kept laying more eggs.

Then Oscar stepped up and bowed to all of us with majestic flair. He put both hands behind his neck and stood with feet wide apart. "I, your father, can keep going all night!" he said, and thrust his hips out eight times, with each knock creating a ball of light in front of him as his purple ring shone from behind.

When he finished, no one said a word, and Mubai and Hongjun's mouths hung open. Yiran was pink somewhat, and both Zhuqing and Rongrong had straight faces on.

In Oscar's hands was a string of eight sausages. He was blushing when he passed them all to me. "These are my Eight-Linked Sausages, eating one will increase the spirit power of your next ability by two-point five percent, and eating all at once will allow you a full twenty-percent boost with no ill effects, but you'll need to wait for twenty seconds before you can eat another set or else you'll only get half the effect."

"I'm not sure you can really live up to that," Mubai said.

"I didn't know big brother Ao was so untoward," Hongjun said.

"Unbelievable," Rongrong said.

"Idiots," Zhuqing said.

We all agreed to Mubai's suggestion, and Oscar produced set of eight for each of us, with his current spirit power, producing six batches wasn't a problem, but eight was just right to empty him out. The sausages could last a day, and him eating it on his own would allow him to make his other sausages faster, but we didn't need that right now.

Rongrong hugged me before going with everyone else, and I gave Oscar the rest of the bolts Tang San gave me for the crossbow. That fight earlier just showed me how useful it was to keep a bunch of random crap in my storage ring, and that nitroglycerin was a big game changer in a fight. Mubai and Zhuqing knowing about weapons of war when Rongrong wasn't so sure was something, but what was more important was how expensive gunpowder was here.

I could make a lot of money with that, and keep my advantage with the chemicals I could make.

"Avoid fighting as much as possible," I told them all. "The goal is to find our comrades."

Mubai nodded. "Little Jin is right, our surviving the incident with that great ape was just our luck, and it could run out any minute.

"I'll also send out my flare to try and get my clansmen," Rongrong said.

Oscar stepped up. "Worry not brothers, as the second eldest, I won't let our brothers and sisters come to harm."

Rongrong hugged me before the five of them left in the tunnel Hongjun started making.

When they disappeared from view, Mubai and I then looked at each other.

"Well?" he said.

I shrugged. "Let's get this over with."

Mubai stayed back at the pool's edge and I started walking up to her. The queen let out a high-pitched chirp, and all the other ants scrambled forward into the pool, pulling out all the eggs they could while avoiding me. With their nest destroyed, most of her workers gone, and that great soldier of hers dead, this place was doomed.

I summoned my Crown and I swear I could feel her staring back. Killing her now would be stupid, since I couldn't guarantee me being able to absorb that ring of hers. Instead, I sat in front of her, and connected the two of us with my Domain. She shuddered as the gold light touched her, and her antennae flicked about.

There was only me, Mubai, and her left in the room, slowly, I extended Devour over her entire body.

This was going to take a long while.

Hours pass, and Mubai kept mum the entire time as I filtered chunk after chunk of life force through Core and into my chakras and spirits, making sure to be as familiar with the queen's energy as much as possible. The silent room then was filled with a constant screech, like the light grating of just cut nails against a blackboard.

I kept it up longer, taking note of the yellowish note in the energy that entered me.

More time passes, and there comes a sort of swelling in the chakras as I slowed down the inflow of energy into them and I retraced the pathways Tang San showed me before. Passing energy directly into my spirit allowed me a higher capacity than using my body first, but after feeling it filled to the brim, I switched and focused the energy to the dantian instead.

From the lungs, they would radiate outward to my limbs, taking the paths through the blood vessels, some riding along the muscles, some along the bones. Together, another flow would begin from the base of the spine and rise up along the vertebra and another would flow into the internal organs. I talk of flows of energy, but all I could really feel was a vague movement of warmth, versus the clarity of using my own energy in others.

It was frustrating, to see so much yet be so blind.

The screeching became louder, and me being in front placed me at the forefront of her wailing.

But on I kept Devouring, I had all the time in the world.

When my body would get hot enough, a sign of the energy already too much, I would switch to filling my spirits and chakras, and when those started to itch and swell, I would switch back. The times between the switching were getting shorter, and when they broke into the span of only ten minutes each, I stopped absorbing for now.

A queen ant was essentially the reproductive organ of the colony instead of its brain, and their polymorphism boasts a more robust physiology than the common workers, living upwards of twenty years versus the usual five to ten of the workers'. In terms of strength, queens were naturally better equipped, being the first to dig the beginnings of the later colony. This room was her legacy, throne, and grave, just like the queens in my less fantastic world.

I then took out my Hammer and placed it at my side. My body and chakra capacities were already full, but this on its own could still take it. I then took the filtered energy and fed it all to the all-black tool. The Clear Sky Hammer took its power from the terrifying weights it could reach, together with the gravity it is capable of emitting. The other spirit hailed as the greatest was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and in terms of combat potential, where the dragon spirit boasted defense and all-around effectivity, so did our Hammer take pride in its overwhelming attack.

My Hammer had grown from the little toy mallet I first awakened to, and now it looked more like a sledgehammer with its handle cut short. It was still small compared to the barrel-sized heads of my grandfathers' and the bigger than twice that of uncle Hao's. I never got to ask how exactly our hammers grew in size, whether from spirit rank or with the number of rings.

More and more weight poured into my Hammer, as the energy I took from the queen, whose pristine and bright yellow shell was now marred and cracked at places, all flowed into my spirit.

The wailing then turned to a high-pitched scream, and my head felt like it would split from the volume. I could try smashing her vocal chords, but doing any more than what I was doing now was just horrible. More so with the knowledge that advanced spirit beasts have the possibility of developing sentience—yet at the same time, I was going to kill her anyway. I just chose to do so slowly to remove as much danger from me.

I just hope no one would ever have to find out what I did here besides Mubai.

I picked up my Hammer from where it was beginning to crack the stones where it sat, and climbed up the queen's body. Her cracking shell seemed to bend where I stepped, and I had no idea how heavy my spirit was right now—except for the fact it felt like it still weighed the same as the first time I once lifted it.

Her legs scrambled to reach me, but her bloated abdomen and thorax were too wide for her limbs to even so much as glance me. The queen's screaming became louder the closer I approached her head, and the trembling of her body intensified. When I reached her head, hot blood started dripping down my ears. I could repair that damage later on with the energy her ring would provide me, but for now, let her have that victory.

My purple ring shone, and I smashed her large jaws apart, sending arcs of electricity through her head.

The screaming stopped for a moment but she struggled with barely attached mandible, and I created a Nail and drove it up where her throat should be. How she made that infernal sound, I didn't know.

Keeping her in pain like this was… horrible, at least the moth I could give an honorable fight, and that pupa, with hope, didn't even know what happened to it. Her though, it made me sick to think she could be thinking through all I did to her.

But no, I still wasn't confident enough to start.

On I kept Devouring, urging spirit power to repair the damage she caused, urging even more to keep pouring into my Hammer. I sat down on her thorax, and set my Hammer there, the armor around it cracking just like the ground.

Kindness to one's enemies was cruelty to one's self—but she wasn't my enemy.

And neither was she my prey.

A tear made its way down my cheek. This ant wanted nothing more than to live, and yet here comes some young upstart spider making trouble, and it even brings company. The colony she built up, all in shreds, and now comes the smallest of the bunch, taunting her with the sweet release of death but never dealing the final blow.

I couldn't understand—or even fathom what must be going through her mind, except for the fact it could only be hatred.

How much longer did I need to keep this up?

How much longer _could_ I keep this up?

Half a day passed, and I glanced back to see Mubai silently cultivating in a corner, and the answer to the questions earlier I found in my right hand.

When my Hammer had swelled to about as large as me.

"I'm sorry," I told her, standing up.

My purple ring shone again, and needless to say, the flow of gastric juices and innards was phenomenal.

#

After that, everything went black.

#

I remembered taking that dark purple ring into my Crown and falling into a deep sleep after in a sea of gold. The searing light held back by the black island that appeared in that endless dawn, heavy and comfortable. I was alone in that space, and for sure Mubai woke up to a face full of bug goo.

I wasn't alone in the experience at least.

Unparalleled rage colored every inch of that mindscape, understandable by all respects. It was a silent and consuming resentment that throbbed and ached for me, safe on that deep black patch.

Every now and then I'd hear voices calling and feel tremors.

As time went on, my place of solace would crumble inch by inch under the endless thrashing and less and less of my foothold would remain. Heat started radiating from the light, and I could only sit and cook in the middle of my unlikely pot.

Then there came something warm and sweet, and sometimes, an unbearable softness would hold me.

That scene of ruin would continue for a long time, and only after I've bathed in those scorching golden fires did the shock of something sharp take me out of it.

When I came to, the first thing I saw was grandpa Shan about to slap me—and the stinging in my cheeks said this wasn't the first.

"What the hell grandpa?!" I said, and instead saw uncle Hao under the light of my Crown. I looked around and saw everyone else passed out around me, all sleeping on the grass. "Well, this isn't the weirdest dream I've had."

Uncle Hao had no reaction, and I was about to slap myself when he stopped my hand with a firm grasp.

"Fine," I said. "Not a dream then."

He nodded, and said, "Yes. Tang San and little Wu are safe as well." He pointed over to a tree, and there was Xiao Wu next to San. Awake.

"Brother San knows now then?" Seeing how Xiao Wu was up and about.

He shook his head. "No. But, little Wu, has something to tell you."

Uncle Hao walked back to the campfire and stoked the spit, sending embers up into the air. Yeah, sure, waking up to uncle Hao slapping me and in cahoots with Xiao Wu was definitely one of the weirder things I'd dreamed of, and definitely the weirdest I'd woken up to.

The night wind was cool and the soft grass was familiar and comfortable. It reminded me of that night a few years ago. Xiao Wu then left Tang San with one last caress before she went to me. Her expression was grave under the fire light.

"We need to talk," she said.

I looked around, and saw everyone else's wounds were already dressed including Yiran's. However, those geezers and teacher Zhao were still nowhere to be found. "Now's as good a time as any, I guess."

"May I?" she said, indicating the spot next to me and Rongrong fast asleep.

"Go ahead," I said.

She sat, and brought her knees up to her chest.

The camp fire crackled, and Rongrong shifted in her sleep.

"I'm a spirit beast," Xiao Wu said. She was staring straight into the flames.

"That explains you not coming with us to get spirit rings then," I said. "Sorry, then, for… the things I did."

She just stared back at me. "It's not like I'm friends with all spirit beasts," she said, shaking her head. "But thank you."

"And I guess that also explains how you can cultivate so damned fast," I said. All those times then when I'd breakthrough only to find her two or three steps firmly ahead then came back, as well as the times should throw me into the ground way back then.

She smiled. "Yes," she said.

Wind blew behind us, and a log broke out of the campfire with a crunch.

I nodded, not really sure what to say.

Xiao Wu looked at me. "Is that all?" she said.

Why was she asking me? She was the one with the revelation here.

"Nothing?" she said, tilting her head.

"I'm not really sure what you mean," I said.

She frowned and knit her brows. "No comments on how I'd put everyone in danger? Or about lying to you and Ge? What about the Er Ming?" She kept listing things out but none really made sense.

"You were travelling with two of the Clear Sky sect's direct descent heirs," I said, "we were in just as much danger with you as we are without you, at least with you there, us three are that bit much stronger. And who the hell was Er Ming anyway?"

She pursed her lips. "He's my brother," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Like genetic brother?" A male Xiao Wu… wrapping his legs around people? Not really all that fun a thought.

"What's even going on in that head of yours," she said. "He was that Titan Giant Ape earlier."

I started laughing then, looks like I wasn't alone with having family troubles when it came to women.

"Is it because my brother is an ape?" she said, one eye twitching.

"It's apt," I said, she punched me on the arm and damn did that hurt. "Whoa there, sis, are you sure your spirit is rabbit? That felt like an ap—"

She punched me harder this time.

"Stopping," I said. "So, I take it you were a rabbit before the evolution?"

Xiao Wu nodded.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get freaked out now with the idea of a hundred-thousand-year demon rabbit," I said.

She punched my arm again and I was pushed to the ground. "I'm not a demon rabbit."

"You sure hit like one," I said, rubbing the smarting arm.

She moved to hit me again and stopped. "How are you even taking this so… well?"

I shrugged. "I'd seen weirder shit." Remembering how you rubbed through your mother's lady parts at birth counted towards that. Same with hearing your parents bone every night nearly every day after that until I was old enough to get my own room. Spirit masters recover fast. Too fast.

That, and because I'm here in a world where I can fucking materialize a Hammer and kill stuff with it. It would take a lot to top that.

"Let's just say, I'm a really cool guy," I said.

"Great," she said, "now I feel weird for telling you."

Was this a _talk_ of some kind?! Like a coming out thing? "Was I supposed to react somehow?"

"I was hoping you'd scream," she said, raising her hands up into claws and making an ominous face.

"Rongrong's grandpa Sword pissed would do that," I said, and a sly light played in her eyes. "Please don't."

We just looked at each other.

"Okay, so uncle Hao," I said, gesturing at him roasting the comically oversized leg from the nearby dead pig thing with the purple spirit floating above it. "How?"

"He knocked out my brother," she said, looking away and blushing a bit.

"Yeah, that sounds like him alright. Is he alright then?"

"He lost a few teeth but he'll grow them back soon enough."

"No hard feelings?"

"Tang San's mother was a spirit beast too," she said. "So, no. Uncle Hao only retrieved Ge and left without a word after that."

"Then you followed him?"

She nodded. "Then uncle Hao happened upon your group, with you being carried on Oscar's back and those weird spider legs. You had this really dark purple ring over you and he knocked you all out after that, then he did this thing with his hammer, and now here you are, not covered in blood."

I looked down and saw the caked brown, the smell drowned out by the damp earth and cinders in the air. "That was… convenient."

Uncle Hao grunted, and said, "You were lucky I was nearby. Don't try something that stupid again."

"Duly noted, uncle," I said.

"You were all lucky the danger you faced wasn't truly out to get you," he said, voice clear and firm despite the distance. And from the looks of it, he cleaned out quite well, now wearing some simple brown robes, though his tattered black cloak remained. Just then, I noticed the tell-tale emblem of the Moon Pavilion.

"I see you've met auntie already?"

He grunted, and went back to his cooking. I then extended Devour over that ring—and found I had no troubles disassembling it and intaking its remaining spirit power. On the corner of Interface, my cultivation bar displayed a whopping thirty-fourth rank of spirit power, but the effect of what I took in barely registered any movement. Damn.

"A complete freak," Xiao Wu said.

"Your injuries were because you overextended your hammer," uncle Hao said, "don't do that again until you reach the fiftieth rank."

I don't even know what I did. "Yes, uncle."

He turned to us. "Are you done then, little Wu?"

"Yes uncle," Xiao Wu said.

As she moved to stand, I said, "Wait, I forgot something."

She turned back.

"Why tell me?"

She smiled, and said, "Because you never told Tang San about his mother."

Uncle Hao threw me a slab of meat, and passed Xiao Wu a piece as well which she declined. Perhaps cannibalism wasn't something she condoned, even if they were different species of spirit beasts.

"Sorry," he said.

I summoned some flat breads and beef jerky for Xiao Wu. I'll need to restock on a lot when we got back.

The following morning, we awoke alone in the forest, with all eight of us already together. With only me and Xiao Wu knowing of the truth. She fabricated a story of how the Titan Giant Ape knocked all of us out after hearing something roar—her other brother, Da Ming. Though she left the guy's name out to be sure.

After that, Rongrong sent out her flare and no less than thirty minutes later, her clansmen then found us and we were all reunited with Yiran's grandparents and teacher Zhao. Turns out when we disappeared, her people already reached out to them to look for us together.

Yiran said her good bye, and Oscar was reluctant to part.

We then wasted no time with rushing back to the academy.

"You kids gave me a scare," said teacher Zhao. "But to think four of you broke through the thirtieth rank with this, then we can only thank our lucky stars.

We ran on well into the night under the light of my Crown—with three purple rings floating behind me.


	21. Chapter 21

We stopped for a quick break late afternoon the next day at a small clearing in the forest, and sat around a small fire I built to ward away the cool autumn wind. There was just enough shade for the sun's rays to filter through the leaves, the light creating mottled patterns on the grass.

Our group sat in a circle with Tang San next to Xiao Wu, then Zhuqing waiting patiently for the food to cook. Rongrong and me were busy tending to the ingredients and fire, and the rest of the three guys doing what they did best, banter, while teacher Zhao went deeper into the woods to get something extra.

We had some of Oscar's sausages roasting on sticks, and the aroma wafting over made me drool all the same. Those things were condensed from spirit power, which meant the guy was somehow creating matter out of energy that could properly go through the correct reactions while retaining their material integrity and _still_ display supernatural effects when eaten.

Then again, there was Mubai and teacher Zhao growing their bodies in mass with their spirit abilities and shrinking back at the drop of the hat, and my Hammer that could do the same thing. None of this spirit power shit made sense to me even after ten years of living, six of which had me experiencing the thing first hand and even delving into playing with the power of gravity.

I stoked the fire, remembering uncle Hao a night ago. It was nice to know we had someone looking out for us, though a rescue from the ant nest would've been nice. The man was inspiring in an 'I'm strong enough to not give a crap about a lot of things' manner at least, which was a good thing in this kind of world. Though the machismo could use some work. Unfortunately, stubbornness was about the only thing we all shared in the family.

Rongrong inched closer to the fire rubbing her bare arms, and pulled a blanket out of thin air as her jade bangle let out a whisper of spirit power.

Further North, the continent had temperate climates and it was also around this time when their cooler winds would reach the Southern regions like near Suotuo city. What's surprising though was even in the capital and port areas, all the maps I'd seen only listed a vast sea outside the bounds of the continent, but this cyclic weather system hinted at a much bigger world beyond.

It's just the horrible things out in the ocean that stopped further exploration. Still, other continents out there meant more exploitable resources.

Zhuqing swiped a stick of four Salamis and settled back next to Rongrong. After sampling Oscar's newest ability, the spicy and salty tang of it went well with her tastes, though everyone else preferred the normal meaty Schubligs.

"So," Mubai spoke up, "how does it feel to have finally broken through?" He indicated us four newly minted Spirit Elders, and we four looked amongst each other, then he met my eyes and said, "Little Jin?"

Oscar and Hongjun raised their brows and nodded, while Zhuqing leaned towards me a bit and Rongrong sat without a fuss. All the while, Tang San wouldn't let go of Xiao Wu, who was only too happy to cling onto him.

"Taller," I said. "A little less skinny too." Adding spirit rings affected the future cultivation of any spirit master, and there was no such thing as a throwaway ring. All of them together determined the eventual limit a person could reach, and the better the first and next ones were, the better someone's chances were of reaching the Titled Douluo realm.

Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue, though her eyes were a little dull. "Of course, you'd be asking about size," she said with a smile.

"Size doesn't matter," I said, "but I'd at least like to end up as tall as my dad or grandpas."

Mubai cleared his throat, and said, "But it does help."

Zhuqing glared at him and turned away, and Hongjun started laughing, saying, "This lewd tiger would of course know all about that!"

"Hmph," Mubai said, looking distraught after Zhuqing. "This free-range chicken here ought to learn when to save his brother some face."

Mubai shoved him, and Fatty was pushed to the ground with a light plop, but the one who did said pushing frowned.

"Hah!" Hongjun said, "little brother was too good to have given me that ring!" He sat up and started flexing his body. "Just you wait, boss Dai." Hongjun pointed at him with a determined look. "Someday, this free-range chicken might even overtake you!"

Mubai sighed. "Did this guy want to exchange pointers just now?' he said, flexing his knuckles.

Oscar crawled over to Hongjun and clapped his shoulder. "Brothers should stick together," he said.

"Then I get Tang San," Mubai said, laughing

Zhuqing shook her head, and the two other girls just chuckled.

"I'd rather you don't drag me into petty fights," Tang San said, scratching his head with the hand Xiao Wu didn't have pinned down. It was almost annoying now how much these two stuck to each other, and coming from what Xiao Wu told me about how Tang San kept chasing after her through the air despite Er Ming's gravity field and constant swatting, I guess they finally saw what everyone else always did.

"Little Jin?" Mubai said.

I shrugged. "Sure," I said, "why not?" Still though, Tang San's twelve, and… okay, Xiao Wu is a total sugar mama, but she's also technically just twelve if we're going by physical body age.

I snuck a glance at Rongrong and couldn't help a small seed of doubt. How much of it was politics? Maybe peoples' teasing? Simple admiration? Personally, it was a difficult idea to even think about

"Late then." Mubai then turned to San. "And you," he said. "You had a spirit bone for flight? How come you never told us?"

Tang San smirked. "You never asked."

Rongrong laughed together with Hongjun and Oscar.

Xiao Wu spoke up, "But to find yourselves lost in an Acid Snare Ant nest and make it out alright. I'm amazed."

"So, they were called Acid Snare Ants," Hongjun said, nodding.

Tang San clenched his hands into fists, a stern arc drawing itself on his jaw, but Xiao Wu's gentle patting let him relax.

Rongrong absentmindedly rubbed her arm. "I was very fortunate to have been found by Jin," she said with a weak smile, then puffed a cheek and narrowed her gaze at me. "Though he did get handy before waking me up."

Silence—though I could just feel Zhuqing's judgement wash over me.

"Traitor!" Hongjun said.

"Little brother is too cruel!" Oscar added.

Mubai only raised a thumb my way with a gentle smile, while. Tang San kept shaking his head, and Xiao Wu looked every bit the dirty old maniac her spirit implied. Yeah. I'm not _that_ creepy compared to her at least.

Xiao Wu met my eyes. "Were you thinking something rude again?" She was stared daggers at my head as she smacked a fist against her open hand. She was pretty damn strong for someone with such a small frame.

Rongrong elbowed my side with a sly smile. "Not content with me, and you'd still stare at your big sister with lewd eyes?"

I couldn't help but start laughing at the implication of me having the hots for the ancient loli. "I don't know about calling her my big sister," I said. "But I guess she _is_ much older than me."

"I don't understand," Hongjun said.

"Rude," Rongrong said, and pinched my side.

Xiao Wu though went pretty red. "Hmph, this cheeky brat, perhaps we should exchange pointers like boss Dai said?" she said with a sweet smile while cracking her knuckles.

"You're the reason I get freaked out by rabbits," I said, inching back. Seriously though, I was spending my time with a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast turned human. And with Tang San having Blue Silver Grass as a second spirit, then his mother was most likely a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass too. Which makes me think it's those unlikely spirit beasts that really move up to that mythical realm.

Xiao Wu puffed up both cheeks and released her spirit, her ears becoming longer and getting covered in white fur while a faint sheen of pink glowed from her legs. Three spirit rings then floated up behind her, two yellow and one purple. "Come little Jin," she said.

The smile she had on was not something a rabbit should ever make.

"No thanks," I said. Because if I do beat her she'll just keep coming back until she wins, and by then, Tang San might even join in. And besides, she was a nightmare to fight herself. Using my Crown on her was only gonna get her to keep trying, and my Hammer was too big a risk for both me and her.

"Or you could use your Hammer," Xiao Wu said, and yes, as enticing to the eyes as her slender legs and round hips were, I knew better than to get any closer to them than necessary. Besides, she and Tang San working together was an absolute terror to face, and fuck that third spirit ability of his.

"And risk your burying my head in the ground?" I said. "I'm good, but I'm not a miracle worker."

The others chuckled—but they'd never really seen Xiao Wu fight for real except during that one time in the spirit arena, and that doesn't even count.

"Less talking, more fighting," she said, as that sinister purple ring shone.

"I don't enjoy losing," I said, and hid behind Tang San. A three-thousand-year ant was a fairer fight compared to a hundred-thousand-year rabbit out to get my ass.

Mubai then cleared his throat. "Before we go any further," he said, taking out a little pouch. "I hadn't had the chance to give this back to little Jin here." His hand went into the bag, digging up to the elbow—another spirit tool—and out came a bright yellow crystal-like chest plate.

All eyes went to him, and Xiao Wu retracted her spirit—looking my way. She tried to smile but couldn't, and my stomach turned as she went back to Tang San's side. The strong fluctuations of spirit power coming from that said everything I needed to know.

"Another spirit bone?" Tang San said eagerly. He then leaned in to examine it, and Xiao Wu stepped back while everyone else leaned closer.

Mubai tossed it to me, and I expanded Domain onto it and felt—a seething burning slither into the back of my mind.

"Jin?" Rongrong said.

I shook myself off. "That thing came from the queen?"

Mubai nodded. "After the queen's body turned to dust, this was left behind."

Hongjun came over and smacked me on the back. "Little brother is truly too good!" he said. "To think we'd come back with a haul of three spirit bones?"

Oscar had his arm over him and the two seemed to dance about.

Then a rustling of leaves made us all turn to see teacher Zhao with a wild boar on his back. "Little Jin, I brought you a present," he said, tossing it over.

I stood up and caught the carcass, making sure it didn't hit Rongrong. It was a lot larger than me but it weighed close to nothing. "How do you want it?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Roasted. No funny business." Then he turned to Mubai. "And don't ever bring out a spirit bone like that ever again," he said. "First make sure no one else is listening."

Mubai nodded, a bit red in the cheeks. "I understand, teacher."

"Little Jin," Mubai said, "that spirit bone is yours."

"Thanks boss Dai," I said. A spirit bone no matter how useless or weak the spirit beast it came from was, was still an existence to behold because they weren't limited to a spirit master's cultivation. They also consumed less spirit power than abilities.

"I wouldn't be your big brother if I stole what is due my own little brother?"

All things considered, I should take this since it was rightfully mine. But a glance at Rongrong, sprang a different idea instead. Her protection weighed a great deal to me, not just for fear of retribution, but also because… she's still a friend. And besides, her spirit adding to mine was something nothing could compare to.

"Tang San," I said, "would it be possible for Rongrong to absorb this spirit bone?"

"What?!" came everyone's reactions together.

"To think little brother is too much of a lady killer," Hongjun said, kneeling to the ground with his arms up to the heavens.

Oscar then walked up to me and faked wiping a tear from his eye. "Little brother is too handsome."

Rongrong's eyes were wide and listless, and Zhuqing somehow had a small smile on compared to Xiao Wu's full grin.

Teacher Zhao nodded to me as well, and Mubai only shook his head, mumbling something about losing.

Tang San though gave a firm look. "I'm not sure," he said. "From what you'd told of us, the queen ant you faced was well over six-thousand-years in cultivation and had this screaming attack, and from what we know of Hongjun, they are able to attack with a burst of acid, and his own spirit bone allows him a slashing attack like the Acid Snare Ant Soldier's own mandibles."

Rongrong covered up her cheeks and Tang San continued, "Tell me, what abilities did you gain from that last ring? And what abilities did the queen use against you?"

I nodded. "My Crown obtained the burning poison energy of the ants, and my Hammer enables me to empower myself with an aura." I then summoned my two spirits, the gold and black lights mingling with the pristine purple—and noticed my Hammer's head was larger now. Before, its thickness was about the size of my thigh at around a diameter of fifteen centimeters but now it was a solid twenty-five.

"So, it _does_ grow with the rings," Tang San mumbled.

"Wasn't your first ring tinged with purple?" Hongjun said squinting.

"It turned completely into a thousand-year ring?" Rongrong said with a shaky voice.

"I'm a lucky guy," I said, though coming out of that situation relatively alright was something else.

Teacher Zhao grunted. "A complete freak."

I activated Corrode as one of my purple rings shone, and the bright gold of Domain became a sinister mustard. I made sure to keep it away from everyone else or the surrounding plants as I slowly enclosed a tree with it—and melted the thing in the span of a few seconds.

"What a tyrannical king," Oscar said.

"Does your light function like true poison?" Tang San said.

I raised an eyebrow and looked over to teacher Zhao. "There's only one way to find out."

Teacher glared at me through everyone else's stifled smiles. "Cheeky brat. Oscar, give me a detoxifying sausage." Oscar passed him a Saveloy in a heartbeat, and he turned to me. "You be glad I like you."

"Thank you, teacher," I said.

He then released his spirit and activated a yellow ring, his entire body enlarging with Motionless Bright King body. "Proceed," he said, folding his arms together.

I wrapped him in my light, and the grass around him all bent away from his spirit pressure. I wasn't an asshole to activate all three abilities, and this right now was just a test to see what would happen.

"No," teacher said, "the light itself isn't poisonous, but it burns away the spirit power I use to suppress it."

I stopped Corrode, taking note of the sizeable consumption of spirit power. "Would you also like to sample all three?"

Teacher groaned some more, and parts of his robe was already tattered somewhat. "Fine," he said. "But you kids stand back."

Everyone did as told, and all three rings shone behind me, wrapping teacher in a purplish golden light. He frowned as the first rays of light touched him, and scowled when his entire body was shrouded in it. My spirit power drained to a steady pace, which at best should last a minute with everything at full capacity.

When I reached half-way out, I stopped my abilities. Devour was enough to come of positive even with Shock's consumption, but Corrode ate too much spirit power. I couldn't help my breath quicken as the consumption caught up to me.

"I see there is some fairness to this world at least," teacher said, throwing away his now ragged robes. His trousers underneath were untouched, and his spirit power remained as strong as ever as he fished a new set out of his spirit tool. "You cannot maintain Corrode indefinitely like you do the other two?"

"Yes," I said. "With my current spirit power, Devour can replenish me at a rate of three percent assuming I have an abundant source, while Shock consumes around three percent as well, but can be lowered to two and a half. Corrode however, takes seven percent minimum to maintain."

I then walked up to another tree and gripped my Hammer tight, my third ring shining again as my body was shrouded in a layer of deep black light. "My Hammer's third ability is to extend the tyrannical Clear Sky aura to my body, and enhance strength by double, but at a cost of ten percent spirit power per second."

I swung my fist at the tree and blew it trunk and all away with a punch, then extended Devour onto it and cleaned up the mess I made, retracting my spirits.

"Then you gained a poison and strengthening ability," Tang San said, "while Hongjun obtained a close-range attack and a burst attack. Given what we know, I believe this spirit bone wouldn't be suitable to Rongrong." He nodded, then frowned. "From what I understand, Jin has told me he'd felt a sort of resonance with you before?"

Zhuqing and Mubai both stepped back somewhat, and Rongrong looked my way. "That's what I've felt before?"

"Huh," Hongjun said, "now that I think of it, isn't this Domain of little Jin a lot like the opposite of Rongrong's Boost?"

"Are you sure it isn't just attraction?" Xiao Wu chimed in. "Though I understand why you'd hesitate." She then made a show of cringing.

Rongrong's cheeks reddened but not as much as earlier, and I added, "It's understandable if the pretty lady fell for my charming good looks." And I got a kick in the shin to shut me up.

Tang San raised a hand and we all stopped our chattering. "From the looks of this bone, it's most likely a torso spirit bone, and could well have defensive properties. However, the queen didn't display any attacking abilities, and still Jin received his. We could then conclude that the queen may just not have been able to use those abilities, or that she was able to contain them as the progenitor. If you encountered any ants with defensive abilities, then describing them could be good too."

"The queen," I said, and looked at Xiao Wu, shaking my head a bit. "Before she died, she released this scream which gave me most of my injuries, and from my fight with the soldier, its shell was about as hard as that Man-faced Demon Spider's."

Rongrong nodded, and Tang San continued, "There is a chance then. But we must also remember that Rongrong's spirit power is much gentler than Jin's, and giving her a spirit bone that more likely has an attacking ability could instead throw her cultivation into disarray." He turned to me. "As it stands, you are most suited to this spirit bone since you have the queen's spirit ring, and the least risk with absorbing it."

"But," I said, "in case it does contain a defensive ability, then Rongrong would've received a level of protection she could use to protect herself with—and would put me at ease some more."

We all turned to Rongrong who sighed. "I can't accept this," she said. "I trust you, Jin, but I'm not willing yet to place my life in your hands, nor am I willing to have you be responsible for mine." She walked up to me and gave me a hug. She smelled like mountain flowers and grilled meat. "I really appreciate the offer," she said. "But, this is yours. Tang San himself said, only you can possibly equip this without any risk and with all the benefits possible."

That put a lot of things into perspective, all things considered. "Then perhaps we can use it to get you a more suitable one?"

She frowned. "Are you seriously trying to woo me, Jin? Or is this your fear of my family that's talking?"

I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of what to say. Either answer was bad in different ways. "It's not about your family," I said, "though I can't say anything about wooing you. We're still much too young for that. But what happened in the nest let me know I can't always protect you."

She smiled back something wry and pinched me again. "Didn't you say we were still much too young for wooing?"

We got back to the academy the following morning running well into the night, making sure to go as fast as we could. That last stop over was enough for us to restore the spirit power we'd expended, and the desire to get home was stronger than our need to rest. What we at first intended to only last a solid week took us upwards of another four days and a few years off our life expectancies, but then again, spirit masters do tend to live longer, so maybe living to eighty still wasn't a horrible deal.

Panting, we all fell to the ground, more out of sheer relief than exhaustion under the bright sun. The smell of cooking rice and firewood drifted in from the mess hall, and the wind carried with it the usual wild flowers and dried earth. Teacher Zhao stood tall though a little pale, and met Flender's scowling welcome. They went into the principal's quarters after telling us all to stand on attention, as the rest of us recovered enough grit to sit up and cultivate.

I never absorbed that spirit bone, instead resolving to keep it for now until after consulting uncle Xiaogang. From a sheer value perspective, I should be able to get a fortune even from this not even ten-thousand-year bone, but that also meant I'd need even more money to get something better.

However, ever since that time, Rongrong had been… awkward around me, and I feel like a total creep.

"You were too forward," Mubai said, draping an arm over me.

Rongrong, Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu all sat together with only Tang San near them, and I was stuck with the boys. The awkwardness was then dispelled when Flender finally emerged with teacher Zhao, and we all stood ramrod straight in a line facing the two.

"You were all very fortunate," he said, pacing. "That four of you would even breakthrough with the unparalleled danger you faced, we can at least say the risk was worth the rewards."

Right now, our ranks were: Dai Mubai, thirty-eighth rank; Tang San, thirty-sixth rank; me, thirty-third rank; Hongjun, thirty-second rank; Oscar and Xiao Wu both at thirty-first rank; Zhuqing at twenty-ninth rank, and Rongrong at twenty-eighth.

"Little Jin," Flender said with a crisp tone, "what you did for Oscar and Hongjun was extremely reckless, never do that again."

I bowed. "Understood, teacher."

"Good," he said, "and congratulations as well for the benefits you allowed them. Little San, chasing after Xiao Wu like you did was even more stupid than what little Jin did."

Tang San neither acknowledged or denied what was said, only bowing.

"Make sure to get strong enough that it would never happen."

"Yes teacher," Tang San said with conviction. Xiao Wu looked softly at him back, and I met Rongrong's eyes who quickly turned away.

"Oscar and Hongjun," Flender said, "make sure to get used to those new spirit bones of yours." He turned to me. "And you, little Jin, spirit bones are no simple matter. More so when you present it to someone else, were you trying to propose to Rongrong?"

"What?"

"Didn't you know?" he said, his lips curved up into a sinister smile. "Influential families present dowries to each other when they ask for a daughter's hand, and with spirit master sects, what do you suppose they use?"

"Really?"

"Yes," Flender said.

I then looked over to Rongrong who was red up to her ears as well.

"Little brother is too forward," Hongjun said.

And a timely glare from Flender stopped him and Oscar and Mubai who were about to say things. Xiao Wu though was all thumbs up.

Flender cleared his throat. "Our next order of business then is to have Zhuqing and Rongrong reach the Spirit Elder ranks as well."

The two girls nodded, Zhuqing with a firm response, and Xiao Wu in a dreamy state.

"But before all that," he said, "I have an announcement to make as well." Flender turned back, his belly hidden by his flowing robes and called out, "You may present yourself now, old brother."

We all turned to Flender's quarters.

"Master!" Tang San was the first to say, and to my surprise, the person I needed to see most was right there.

"Uncle Xiaogang," I said, bowing together with Tang San and Xiao Wu.

He bowed slightly back to us, and Flender continued his introduction. "This here is Yu Xiaogang, my brother, and you all might know him better as Grandmaster."

The rest of us bowed to him in greeting.

"From now on," uncle said, "I'll be taking charge of your education with the help of my brother's Shrek Academy and faculty. Be prepared."

That was all the explanation we got. Uncle Xiaogang was never one for longwinded discussions except when it came to matters about spirits. We were then dismissed early and allowed to rest for the rest of the day before we began in earnest tomorrow. Tang San decided to stay in the village and gave me a list of things he wanted, and I asked the other students for materials and goods they wanted from Suotuo city as well.

Rongrong however, offered to come with me, and Xiao Wu wouldn't stop her teasing.

The day then ended with most of the supplies I spent on that last trip replenished, and I got more another five extra sacks of flour and a lot of trimmed off pig and cow fats I'll be extracting glycerin from. The concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids I'll need to get elsewhere, and with hope, Tang San might have some idea how to synthesize them.

When morning came, we all woke up to a lavish breakfast with uncle Xiaogang and Tang San serving up everyone with steamed buns filled to bursting with flavorful meats and heavy and sticky bowls of porridge filled with veggies.

"Oh," I said, frowning at the amazing spread.

"Why say no to a feast?" Hongjun said.

"It's what comes after that I'm not too fond of," I said.

Rongrong raised an eyebrow. "Throwing up?"

"No," I said, "Grandmaster's training."

Xiao Wu shivered.


	22. Chapter 22

When all eight of us had finished eating, uncle Xiaogang stood up and said, "Tomorrow morning, the bell will ring by sunrise and food will only be served until an hour after that. Anyone who doesn't come will not eat either. Are we clear?"

"Yes," I answered together with Xiao Wu and Tang San. Note to self, debrief everyone later about uncle's quirks.

Rongrong met my eyes, and mouthed 'What?'

'Later' I mouthed back.

"You all sit to cultivate until we call for you," uncle said. "Dismissed for now."

He then went back to Flender's cottage, leaving us to cultivate.

"So, this is Grandmaster," Mubai said, nodding.

"His personality is very firm," Hongjun added.

"Bossy too," Rongrong said with a sigh.

"Teacher is indeed like that," Tang San said with a wry smile, "but his knowledge on spirits is unmatched."

With uncle here though, that meant my family couldn't be far either. Grandpa Shan is too much of a sap to let that go, and I do miss getting spoiled by him.

"You get used to it," I said, and Xiao Wu nodded hard to that.

"So that was the teacher who made you three as strong as you are?" Zhuqing said.

"Yes," Tang San answered for us.

"Good," she said.

"Come," Oscar said, "we should do as Grandmaster said, from what I could feel from him just now, he seems the type to be even more difficult than dean Flender."

We all went to the middle grounds and sat down to cultivate, and almost two hours later to the dot rang the bell for classes. When I opened my eyes, out came uncle with the dean and teacher Zhao.

"Come little monsters," uncle said, as we fell in line after coming out of our meditative states. "I have already reviewed your performance as well as the experiences you've had last from your trip to Star Dou Forest."

We all nodded.

"Little Ao, and fatty, you both received spirit bones from this last trip?"

The two nodded.

"We will discuss later some special trainings for you to get used to them. Little Jin and Rongrong, we too will discuss later whether that torso bone you obtained is suitable for her."

We shared a look and nodded.

"Next, I believe Dai Mubai had hinted of the possibility of a resonance with Zhu Zhuqing?"

Zhuqing only stared at uncle, while boss Dai stepped up. "Yes," he said.

"Truly a collection of little monsters you have here, Flender," uncle said, nodding. "You two will verify if that is indeed correct. Rongrong and little Jin, I believe you've shared something like this as well?"

"I believe so," I said.

"But we've never tried either," Rongrong said.

"Then you will try." He then turned to Xiao Wu. "And you," he said, "will not slack off."

Xiao Wu stiffened up and nodded hard, then pouted a bit outside of uncle's view. Her talent was somewhat of a sore point for uncle, given she never really cultivated with intent like me or San. And all he could really do was try to motivate her, by depriving her of Tang San otherwise.

Uncle walked back to the front, and said, "From now on, Mubai, Hongjun, and Jin you three will regularly exchange pointers with your teacher Zhao."

"Yes," we three said.

"Then Xiao Wu, Tang San, and Zhuqing with Flender."

"Yes," the three of them said

"And Rongrong and Oscar both will accompany your bouts every time as valid targets."

"Yes," the two also said, though weaker.

"Now that that's over with," uncle said with a clap. "Little Jin, Oscar and Hongjun, you three fight Tang San and Mubai. And Xiao Wu will face Zhuqing and Rongrong together."

He clapped again and made us all go to our positions without any time to voice objections. Xiao Wu looked like she wanted to just go home and sleep while Mubai was looking every bit as confident. Zhuqing had a serious look to her but Rongrong's smile said she was feeling lucky. Tang San was smiling himself, while both Oscar and Hongjun already had their war faces on and were flipping boss Dai the bird who was returning the gesture.

Xiao Wu versus Zhuqing sounded like a bad idea even with Rongrong's support, and that's not even counting her new ability. And our fight looked just as bleak. Mubai was a reasonable opponent, but Tang San fucked up any situation. It was pretty nice how he couldn't manifest his Needles apart from him, but those Swords of his were too broken—add to that his Bind ability getting upgraded thanks to the toughness of the mantis blades, and well, facing him just isn't as fun anymore.

The moment we all got into position, uncle then spoke up, "Little San and little Jin, you both are not allowed to use anything other than spirit abilities or spirit bones." We both nodded. "Besides that, there are no restrictions. Begin!"

Uncle was on a roll today, and just then a black needle flew my way that was burned to a crisp by Hongjun's flame. I then jumped to just in front of Oscar.

"Oscar, legs out," I said, taking out both my spirits and expanding Devour over to Mubai who was already charging. "Behind me," I said.

Hongjun and Oscar did as told, with the latter already generating sausages and Hongjun's purple ring shone just before boss Dai could reach us, his purple ring also shining.

Boss Dai was flung away with a face full of purple flames but a rain of Swords and Needles assaulted us from all directions which I dispelled with Corrode and Devour together, taking a solid chunk of spirit power from me. The real power of Tang San's abilities came not from their being unbreakable, but from how relatively little spirit power they consumed.

Oscar passed me a set of eight, but the slight downside was I needed to eat one for the two-point-five. I popped in a link and started chewing. "Oscar, Hongjun's our only hope of winning this, I'll draw their fire and you make sure to get him a full set."

"Yes," Oscar said from his raised position. His spider legs were about three meters from end to tip, enough to make a difference with how he moved. Given Tang San, his goal should naturally be our auxiliary master first.

Mubai recovered and his two yellow rings shone, body enlarging as a white beam shot out of his mouth.

Hongjun met the White Tiger Light Wave with a thick plume of purple fire from Phoenix Fire Wire as a flash of white shot up from my feet.

Tang San could only have done that on the ground. I dodged away from the series of rising Swords making sure to expand Devour to its largest, and felt a hint of him just at the edge of my range. He quickly disappeared, and Mubai was charging for Hongjun again.

I still had a buff on me, but then in swooped Tang San snatching me away from the fight, and let go the moment Corrode burnt him.

"Formidable," he said, wincing. He hovered just ahead of me, and his hands flashed once, three white flashes moving for Hongjun. The speed of his projectiles was another thing I hated about fighting him.

I erected a wall of Corrode to just in front of them and charged towards Tang San. Using my Domain in an unfocused manner diffused the effects of Shock and Corrode, so for bouts like this, it was better to conserve those unless I had a sure shot. Devour though was kept on since it didn't really consume anything from my side.

Chasing Tang San was in itself an exercise in frustration with that fancy footwork and wings of his, but the goal was more to stop him from focusing enough to bother Hongjun and Mubai. I then expanded Domain forwards in a cone together with Shock and caught him in its light.

Tang San winced again and shot me with some Needles.

I was gonna roll over but a tuft of grass had my leg firmly in place on the ground, I turned on Mantle for the first time and those poisonous projectiles bounced harmlessly off me. Oh wow, that finally worked. The consumption though was enormous. I created a Nail and shot it at Tang San, and a flash of black made him dodge in a haphazard way.

"Well," I said. "That surprised you?" It surprised me too.

He only smiled, and flew to the side with a wide arc, and I turned in time to see Mubai right behind me and almost twice as large, with his purple ring glowing.

Tang San was met with a blanket of purple fire but his Swords penetrated the deep flames and Oscar was the one who got Hongjun out of the way.

Boss Dai's tiger palms had five large knife-like edges at their tips plowing straight for me, and I met his downward strike with an upwards blow of Thunder Strike augmented with Mantle.

Our attacks collided and the influx of the foreign spirit power I dispelled as fast as I could with Devour. This was the first time we'd ever really fought, and to think he could push me back this much, but it's not as if he wasn't untouched from the exchange either. Boss Dai landed on the ground a moment later with a heavy thud, and his purple ring stopped glowing just as I turned off Mantle. My spirit power was already half-way spent just from that.

"That Hammer is monstrous," boss Dai said, standing up.

"And rank thirty-eight is just as hard to surpass," I said.

We both smiled and went at it again, this time both yellow rings of his shone, and I retracted my Domain to completely enclose him in Devour, Shock, and Corrode all at the same time.

His mouth burst out with white which I dodged just in time thanks to my Crown's increase in perception, and when that failed, his claw attack aimed to close the gap—but I quickly side-stepped him and grabbed his waist, my body already saturated with spirit power and German Suplexed the guy into the ground.

We crashed onto the grass but his body didn't crumple in the slightest, and his abdomen just burst out somehow, taking off my grip and I rolled away as Swords again chased after me.

"What the hell was that?!" Mubai said, and shot another beam at me.

I then ran towards Tang San harassing Hongjun and Oscar who were holding the fort down pretty well, with the former burning everything Tang San hurled at them and the latter continuously feeding Hongjun with recovery sausages. I then hastily ate the rest of the sausages still wrapped around my arm, making sure to spit the dirt and grass that got on it, and felt my spirit power well up from god knows where.

After I swallowed the last piece, I turned on Mantle and quickly shot a Nail with a diameter almost as large as my head and speeding towards Tang San like a cannonball, and that wasn't even the full twenty percent boost.

Tang San was hit by my spirit ability even though he reacted in time, he just didn't expect the size of it maybe, but his flight was undeterred.

Thanks to Oscar's sausage, the absurd consumption of Mantle was kept at bay somewhat with that momentary use. I then rejoined with the rest of my team with Mubai panting after me. As the person with the highest combined cultivation years from his ring, I most likely had some advantage with the quality of my spirit abilities and my own pool of spirit power, it's just that my rising in ranks too quickly made me unaccustomed to my new capacities.

The end eventually came when boss Dai finally exhausted his spirit power under Devour, while Tang San had taken out Oscar with those impossible throwing skills of his that made those Needles and Swords fly in patterns that made no sense whatsoever, and me and Hongjun ran out of spirit power soon enough.

Tang San himself had to sit on the ground to recover spirit power by the time we finished, and the fight between Rongrong and Zhuqing had apparently already ended way before ours with Xiao Wu teleporting behind Zhuqing and backflipping with her into the ground much like my suplex.

After a quick bit of rest, uncle then called us over again. "Tell me," he said, "what mistakes did you all do in your fights?" He narrowed his eyes at each one of us. "Little Jin?"

"My biggest mistake was getting separated from my team in the first place," I said. If it weren't for that, then turtling would've been an option. "After that was thinking I could take out boss Dai."

"And what of facing off with Tang San?"

"I believe keeping him from attacking the two was better than trying to regroup at the time," I said, and uncle nodded. "I believed boss Dai wouldn't have been able to defeat Hongjun and Oscar readily given the two's sprit bone abilities, but then Tang San would've been able to regroup as well. And that would've been bad news for us."

"Good," uncle said. "Little San? What did you do wrong?"

"I failed to account for Jin's Hammer's new ability and paid the price of losing my team mate."

"Good. Mubai?"

"I underestimated Hongjun and Jin's long range abilities."

Uncle nodded, and said, "Hongjun?"

"I failed to protect our auxiliary system spirit master," he said.

"Try again," uncle said.

Hongjun tilted his head at him. "I'm not sure what you mean, Grandmaster."

"Your fire was able to restrain Tang San," uncle said. "You should've pressed your advantage instead of wait for Jin to reunite with you."

Hongjun nodded after that. "Yes, teacher," he said.

"And Oscar?"

"My awareness of the battle was what lead me to get taken out," he said. "I should've been paying more attention."

"Hmph," uncle said, "at least you little monsters understand a bit. And you girls, what did you do wrong?"

"I charged in without first finding out Xiao Wu's new ability," Zhuqing said.

"And I forgot to warn her," Rongrong added.

Uncle then started rubbing his chin, then closed his eyes to hum to himself.

Rongrong leaned in and said, "I see now where Tang San gets it."

"Yeah," I said, distracted. With uncle, training wasn't over until he explicitly said it was, so with the sun still three hours away from noon, things were bound to get hairy.

"Good, good," uncle Xiaogang said. "With this, at least I understand you are all open to the blunders you performed with the bouts just now. Remember, in the future, if you do those again I will be sure to punish you as well. Are we clear?"

We all said, "Yes."

Wait what?

"So that you never forget, you'll be performing a punishment then to really drive the lesson home." Uncle smiled my way. "Go to the entrance of the academy and you'll all be acquainted with your new best friends for the coming months."

Fuck. I hate it when he smiles.

We made our way as indicated, and found… suits that could only be described as a cross-fit nut job's dream. There in leather and metalworks were eight… suits, if they could even be called that. It was essentially a series of harnesses with springs connecting the limbs' parts together to prevent movement, and each one was marked with our names. They were full-body resistance sets I once thought up as a joke after I found out the blacksmiths in this world knew how to make springs, it was just my luck someone listened to me—and apparently indulged uncle.

I looked over to Tang San who wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I blame you," I said.

"What are these?" Mubai said, picking up the one marked with his name. The thing made clinking noises as the different moving parts collided with each other.

"Oh," Xiao Wu said, then looked over at me. "This is on you."

"Yeah, but Tang San made them."

"And you gave uncle the idea."

"Fair assessment."

Tang San, Xiao Wu, and I helped everyone to wear their suits, and just standing was already hard. But the tensions on our springs were all different, and the battle spirit masters had the toughest, while Rongrong and Oscar had lighter springs, but they found movement just as hard. What was nice though was how smooth everything felt even encumbered like this, but on closer look, the hooks by the shoulders were not reassuring in the slightest.

Dean Flender and uncle then arrived, with uncle smirking at me.

"From now on," he said, "you will all wear these suits whenever we perform basic training."

Just then, teacher Zhao arrived carrying exactly seven iron plates all with different sizes.

"And you'll be wearing weights together with them, which we'll be increasing as time goes on."

"Of course," Xiao Wu said with a face palm.

Tang San only smiled back after I glared at him.

Teacher Zhao passed out those heavy iron plates—which had hooks on them. Ingenious, but also devious. He then helped secure the weights, and I noticed how easy it was to put on and remove—meaning it was meant to do that.

"For today," uncle said, "I want you all to run until you pass out."

Silence.

"Did I hear that right?" Oscar said, raising his hand. "You want us to run until we pass out?"

"Yes," uncle said. "No using spirit power allowed. Teacher Zhao will make sure all of you come back to the academy as well as subject you all to twice the gravity, so feel free to go all out. Anyone who exceeds my estimated number of laps gets a rest day tomorrow."

That was a load of bullshit, but the glare uncle directed my way stopped me from saying anything.

"Your path will be from here to the foot of the mountain next to Suotuo city, I want you all to get as familiar as possible with the way there."

Which meant we'll be seeing a lot more of it in the near future.

"Teacher Zhao, if you'd be so kind," uncle said.

Teacher was smiling too much as that purple ring of his shone and my feet sank into the ground.

"For now, you also aren't allowed to share your weights," uncle said, "that will come at a later time." He nodded. "You may begin."

Tang San was the first to run ahead, followed closely by Mubai and Xiao Wu then Zhuqing, Hongjun, and us three: me, Rongrong, and Oscar at the very back.

The first lap was doable with everyone running at a steady pace together, but as the laps went on, so too did the mental exhaustion catch up, and the rest of that day passed in a blur, and all I really remember was the sun in the sky, the annoying clinking all our suits made, then waking up in a medicinal bath already so late into the night. As we ate our hearty dinner, we were all surprised to find our bodies were doing fine even after that hell we went through.

Apparently, Tang San and Mubai were the ones who did the most laps at nine round trips, then next was Xiao Wu and Hongjun with eight, then me and Zhuqing with seven, and lastly Oscar and Rongrong with six.

"That can't be right," Mubai said. "I was expecting little Jin to keep up."

I groaned from the table.

"To think little brother would fall to a bit of running," Hongjun said, just staring at me.

Tang San pat my back as he put away his dishes. "Little Jin's spirit power is especially potent because of his two spirits, but you forget he's younger than all of us by two years."

"Oh yeah," Oscar said. "But he reminds me more of a shrewd merchant trying to cheat me."

"Where'd that come from?" I said.

"Whatever happened to sausage monopoly?" Oscar said, chuckling.

"Grandmaster happened," I said.

"Make it stop," Xiao Wu said, clinging onto Tang San.

The following morning, uncle mixed up our sparring bouts, this time it was me and Tang San versus everyone else together and it all came down to a near draw thanks to my and San turtling with his flying and my cheesing them all with Devour. After that, we broke off into our groups to face off against teacher Zhao and dean Flender, then back to basic training with sore bodies and spent spirit powers.

Next on the menu this time was mountain hiking up and down. The day after that was wading upstream a river, then mountain climbing, then pushing a cart back and forth from Star Dou Forest's frontier town to sell off my stockpiled goods for money.

At the end of the week though, uncle made us do something extra. We didn't do any spars that morning because we were to do the full course: upstream river wading, mountain climbing, then running the rest of the way back to the academy as one lap, and to return to the river to do it all again to start the next. We had to ten in total, again without spirit power, and this time everyone had to make it back since teacher Zhao wasn't coming with us. Not impossible, but not easy either.

"This'll be our hardest bout yet," Mubai said.

Altogether we had a collective weight of a hundred and forty kilos distributed among us. Two ten kilo plates for Rongrong and Oscar, then a ten and a five for me and Zhuqing, two tens for Xiao Wu and Hongjun, and two tens and one five for Mubai and Tang San.

We started out strong, finishing the first two laps at a steady pace. Then on the third, Rongrong and Oscar passed theirs to Tang San and Mubai who gave them the five kilos in exchange. On the fourth, the two auxiliary masters took back their plates and Zhuqing and I passed our five kilo plates to Xiao Wu and Hongjun. The fifth had Hong Jun and Xiao Wu passing back a ten plate to me and Zhuqing, and a slightly slower pace than before. The sixth we returned to our original configuration without any problems, but also slower than the fifth lap. On the seventh, Rongrong and Oscar gave their plates to me and Zhuqing in exchange for our fives. The eighth had me hyperventilating and I had to pass all my plates to Mubai, and half-way done, Rongrong collapsed. Together with Oscar, I supported Rongrong while Tang San took her plates. On the ninth, Xiao Wu passed me a five so she could take a ten from Mubai while Hongjun took ten from Zhuqing. At the start of the tenth, Mubai fell next, and I had to power through a third with a twenty for him to recover enough, then Rongrong woke up and took a five from Xiao Wu, and Tang San took my ten.

When we entered the academy's borders, everyone collapsed together—and the same scene as the nights before played out. We woke up in the baths the following morning, and ate as if we'd all just come back to life. It was a hellish training that kept breaking us down and rebuilding us anew, and with each pass of night, Flender more and more looked miserable.

Our schedule would continue like that for the better part of two weeks until uncle added another ten kilos to everyone, then another ten two weeks later, and so on and so on until we spent three months cultivating, training, and sparring all the way.

Besides Rongrong breaking through to the twenty-ninth rank, no one really made any progress with our cultivation, but the plates we carried were all well above what we first carried, but even at the end of it all, we still had to struggle hard through the dirt and grit.


	23. Chapter 23

"Today," uncle said, "the basic training will stop." Xiao Wu started cheering together with Rongrong and Oscar, but Tang San and I knew better than to celebrate. Hongjun, Mubai, and Zhuqing kept vigil without reaction. "But you'll be earning the academy's keep in the meantime."

The three stopped their celebrating and shot puzzled looks about.

Uncle then continued, "These past few months we've been splurging on you students' food and training, and the fees that normally should've lasted you a year we already spent."

A hundred gold coins each put academy budget at eight hundred, which wasn't a lot by spirit master standards but was more than enough for normal people. Me though, I went through a few hundred myself depending on how well I could grab a haul somewhere, but these last few weeks hadn't been too kind on my finances. Even with Spirit Hall's hundred gold stipend—because who the hell pays attention to a genius out in the sticks—my income was still only limited to the few bargains I struck with helping uncle with the shopping.

"I'll be sending you off to the mountains you love so much," he said.

"To do what?" Rongrong asked with a scandalized expression.

"To mine out the mountain," uncle said. "I understand fatty is capable of digging, and I know for a fact that your spirit is able to detect the presence of treasures."

"It can?" I asked Rongrong. That would sort of explain a few things, almost like how my spirit power reacts to certain materials and goods.

She only stuck her tongue out with a playful smile.

"What you mine then will be sold by little Jin, and what you can use, fatty will help process. Little San and Mubai will be of good use with excavating ores, and Zhuqing and Xiao Wu will help cart out material, while Oscar will be in charge of food."

All in all, that sounded like a wonderful plan.

"But teacher," Hongjun said, "how would I settle my Evil Fire?"

Uncle nodded. "That, will be settled when Jin makes his trips. He will also be the one in charge of getting extra nutrients for you, as well as cooking."

Everyone groaned.

"According to the recipe I'll provide," uncle added.

They all cheered.

"This is so little San can outfit you with his weapons," uncle said. "The time frame for this training will be until he completes a set for each of you."

"Really?" I said, asking San.

"Yes," he said. "Rongrong has talked to me of purchasing my weapons for her clan, it's just that making it for eight people is within my power, while a few hundred is a bit much. For now, we settled on providing everyone with a set so she could have her father sample it when she gets the chance."

Rongrong nodded and said, "Our time in the nest made a great impression on me, and what's more is this explosive you made that battered that Man-faced Demon Spider like a doll. I was hoping to talk to you some time about it too but never found the chance."

"Or was it you couldn't try talk to him one on one?" Xiao Wu added.

"I wouldn't mind making a lot more of the stuff," I said. And when was more explosives ever a bad idea? "But I am finding it difficult to get the materials I need."

Tang San's eyes shone. "Did you mean the Dragon Tears and Boiling Blood poisons?"

"The what now?"

"Those two liquids you mix to create that white paste," he said.

" _Sulfuric_ and _nitric_ acids you mean?"

"It doesn't matter what you call them," he said. "But what is this explosive Rongrong mentioned?"

"Haven't I shown you that before?"

I heard Xiao Wu whisper loud enough to hear, "They always get like that, just ignore them and smile when they ask you about anything."

With that, our next phase of training was set for the next few months.

When we reached the mountain's peak, flashbacks of my Minecraft days played out, and I helped direct the layout of our would be home for the coming days.

Hongjun hollowed out a cubby hole larger than our dorm while I helped shape the broken rocks into some semblance of a landing area and floor. His spirit bone cut through dirt like butter and with difficulty through stone, and with my Domain providing the guides, I cut us out a fifty-square meter large room in the mountain side with my Hammer and Nail ability, and decorated the inside with some glow stones I purchased from the city.

At first, we did as instructed, with Tang San and Mubai helping with the digging, and Xiao Wu and Zhuqing doing the carting out of dirt and rocks, but the process proved too slow so I volunteered me and my ring instead. Under the all-seeing light of my Domain, I removed the debris efficiently, and it freed up Xiao Wu and Zhuqing to instead help with the digging.

Hongjun kept up his major excavation of the tunnels, keeping a uniform distance between side paths according to my direction, and the bigger rocks we'd take out of the tunnels first before breaking. Mubai and Tang San would then help shape some bricks which Hongjun would cook into place together with a mortar I mixed up to secure our tunnels using archway architecture. Doing this haphazardly would lead to problems in the future, and a secret lair sure sounded like a fun thing to do.

Thanks to the change in roles, our digging went even faster, and with Rongrong's direction and Tang San able to identify the veins, we found pockets of ores left and right. Gold, silver, copper, iron, niter, coal, sulfur were our main points, with a few rare sides of alum and mineral salts. The first three for their value, the iron for Tang San, and the last three for my selling, the others we just kept in sacks to sell off as well. We also found some geodes at times, and these I saved for selling to the nobles. Given the composition of the rocks we were digging through, it was obvious this place was formed from tectonic shifts and that part of the mountain used to be below sea-level.

After emptying out a vein, the digging group would proceed to make more tunnels while Rongrong, me, and Oscar would segregate the ores better. I would break the rocks further into gravel sized bits and Oscar would pick them apart with his lances. The filtered stuff then goes into Tang San's spirit tool into a jade pocket of their own.

When we filled the first jade full of iron, Tang San stopped his mining and set up his mobile forge away from the mine. There, Hongjun would heat the ores and melt them and Tang San would skim off the unnecessary parts with his large earthen basins, which I totally didn't know he even had. Once done, he and I would then beat the impurities out of the raw chunks of metal with our Clear Sky Hammers.

During the times Hongjun wasn't with the digging team, no one would go underground since only he had any capability of getting anyone out should a cave-in happen. To make up for lost time, the others would come down with me to help restock on goods, as well as to serve as my extra eyes and ears while I worked the markets for Flender, and uncle and teacher Zhao would then move in to do the actual purchasing under the dean's name. This was to keep people from recognizing any of us for the next phase of training he had in store.

What he had planned, I had no idea.

Each time our mining would fill a jade, Tang San, me, and Hongjun would do the refining again, while the others would go down to the city ahead of me. Iron and copper were the easiest to fill up, but the few pockets of gold and silver didn't amount to much. The sulfur, niter, and charcoal were also just as abundant, and them I split in parts: half the sulfur and niter for making the acids, and half the coal for selling. The other halves were for making gunpowder which I was planning on having the teachers sell.

We cleared out the mountain peak's area in the span of a month, and after that we started digging straight down. We were all spirit masters, and hard to manage layouts were the least of our concerns. Oscar's spider lances were crucial here to keep Rongrong with the digging group, and as long as Hongjun and I were there, we basically had no fear of any collapses. Digging down also reduced the possibility of a cave-in because weaknesses in the rock formations would be pressing down the walls, instead of bearing down on the tunnel structures.

Thanks to the shift in style, we found more of the same stuff and happened upon some geodes of amethyst and rubies, and whatever jade we found Tang San hoarded all for himself. They were for the future development of his Hidden Weapons according to him, so nobody really bothered.

When we finally filled the niter and sulfur jades of Tang San, he got to work on the acids, and our digging had to stop again since he needed Hongjun to heat the lead basins. Tang San mixed the sulfur and niter in said basin with enough water to have everything soaked, then he had another lead basin on top which was kept cool with my spirit power. The condensed vapors then I was surprised to find was the sulfuric acid, then half that he put into another lead basin with more niter, and with more heating, out condensed nitric acid.

All in all, Tang San needed about twenty kilograms of high quality grey iron to complete the set of weapons for everyone, and the entire process took us another three months, after which the academies finances were already more than saved thanks to the gunpowder. By the end of it all, selling the gunpowder for ten gold for half a kilogram, or a jin, yielded a total of five thousand and four hundred gold for the academy, and they were naturally way more than happy for it. What made me a bit wary however was that most of it was bought by the Balak kingdom… well, I'll just cross the bridge when I get there.

All seven of us were then equipped with Tang San's full suite: two Silent Sleeve Darts for each arm with twenty-four spare darts, a Tense Back Flower Adornment Crossbow with three arrows, a Godly Zhuge Crossbow with one hundred and forty-four arrows in total, as well as what he called a Flying God Claw.

"This Flying God Claw is a specialized hidden weapon with multiple uses," Tang San explained. "It is able to shoot out the claw and automatically grasp whatever it hit." He flexed his hand open and a flash of silver light embedded itself into a branch. "When tugged," Tang San continued, "it is able to retract, and depending on the weight, you are either pulled or what you grasp is pulled to you." He planted his feet firmly at the ground and a quick flash for his yellow spirit ring bound his feet, he then pulled hard on the God Claw, and that tree actually bent.

"What?"

"Anything wrong little Jin?" he said.

Whatever. "Nah, carry on."

He then showed us all how to operate all his goods as well as the proper maintenance procedures and how to reload. After the lecture, he also made sure to supervise us on how to use the goods, and well… I felt like fucking Spiderman swinging to and fro the forest around the mountain.

We all retired to a nice dinner after that, and it was my turn to distribute gifts.

"Of course, I won't lose to big bro San," I said, and brought out two simple things: a flare waterproofed with candle wax, and a stick of dynamite I cooked up with charcoal as the filler. "Both were made from those things we mined out."

"I see you can also make flares," Rongrong said, pointing at the bamboo tube. I didn't need to make a fuse for it since spirit power was enough to ignite guncotton pretty well.

"That's correct," I said, and made a show of generating spirit power in my hand to light the bottom of it and a dull blue flame shot out, colored with the few copper oxides we found while digging. "Spirit power is all you need, and make sure the end marked with red is pointed away from you."

I gave them all three sticks each.

"And last of course, is what I used against that Man-faced Demon Spider." I buried the stick and stuck a nitrated cotton string into it. Then I made them all stand back about fifteen meters away as I lit the fuse and made a mad dash to where they all were.

 _Bang!_ The ground shook with the explosion and all faces there went to me with wide eyes.

"That wasn't an explosive," Tang San said.

"I think we can all agree little Jin is just as abnormal as little San," Mubai said, shaking his head.

For these, I gave them all two meters of nitrated string and three sticks.

"Remember to never ignite these in your hands because I'm not even sure how strong you need to be to withstand a blast from one stick, and I'm not even willing to have any of our teachers find out." Though maybe getting grandpa Shan to try it out would help. "You also have to be wary of the loud sound it would make on detonation, because this too can injure you."

I then made a show of lighting up another stick, this one just on the ground.

 _BANG!_

My ears were still ringing when I explained to them the way the reaction happens with pushing the shockwave of sound outwards, and the two-fold way with which to use it. Me and Tang San got to a few discussions after that, and the possibility of a small fire-arm was somehow mentioned, and knowing the guy, a revolver probably wouldn't be out of the question for him to make.

We all then made our way down from the mountain to a feast the teachers prepared for us as thanks for the income.

Everyone ate and drank as much as they could and made merry, and near the end, uncle stood up to say, "With this, your strength training is complete, and we can proceed with the third phase of my plan."

Then the following day, we all made our way back to Suotuo city from the academy, and again found ourselves in front of Suotuo Great Spirit Arena.

"Here is where the last bout of your first training program shall happen," he said. "You will all stay in nearest hotel, and every night must fight as a team, as well as fight another time from there. Except for Rongrong and little Ao, all are expected to participate in the one-on-one fights, and they will need to participate together with someone else. However, since Zhuqing and Rongrong's ranks are still at the Spirit Grandmaster level, their combination is already set."

Tang San then spoke up, "I and Xiao Wu already have a combination."

Uncle Xiaogang nodded. "Did you use your real names?" We all nodded. "Change it. From now on, everyone must be sure to hide their names and identities. This is to prevent any people who might keep grudges from acting against you in the future." He then took out a pouch and passed us all a mask each, large enough to cover most of our features except for the eyes, nose, and mouth. "For team battles, you will also wear a uniform I provide you, and it would be best if you use those same clothes as well for your individual and pair battles."

We all nodded again.

"The end goal for this phase is for you all to earn your Silver Fighter badges, and if possible, allow Zhuqing and Rongrong to breakthrough." He nodded to himself. "And during this, we will also train the possibility of that spirit fusion between Mubai and Zhuqing."

He looked at the two who nodded with resolution, though there was a bit of awkwardness when they looked at each other. Clearly, these two were a bigger deal than they'd ever dare to admit.

"Little Jin and Rongrong as well should try, but you'll only be able to do so outside of battle." We both shrugged. "For your spirit bones, do not use them unless absolutely cornered. And for little Jin, you are still not allowed to use your Hammer at all costs. The roots of Spirit Hall run deep everywhere, and not even this neutral ground may be able to protect you. If it ever comes that you need to use the Hammer, surrender instead."

I nodded. "Understood, teacher."

"The remaining four should then discuss your teams. When you finish, we will all register together."

We decided to have Mubai and Oscar pair up while I did with Hongjun. As the one with the highest spirit power and was most suitable to Oscar's third spirit ability, he was the best choice, while my and Hongjun's capability to fight at mid-range both allowed us a great deal of potential with harassing. However, just relying on my Crown and Hongjun's Fire Wire and Burst Fire I felt wasn't enough, and the only path left was to also use what little martial arts I knew and hone them as best as possible.

I knew a bit of the most popular styles, how to perform punches and low kicks with karate, the quick snaps and power kicks from taekwondo, the strong elbows and knees of muay thai, the stable assault of boxing, and the unexpectedness of pro-fucking-wrestling.

"With this," uncle said, "your new names will be: White Tiger for Mubai, Sausage Monopoly for Oscar, Seven Treasure Princess for Rongrong, Hell Civet for Zhuqing, Soft-bones Rabbit for Xiao Wu, Evil Phoenix for Hongjun, Amber King for little Jin, and Thousand Hands for little San."

We finished registration shortly after that, and had our badges remade—at least the ones who already had them.

My and Hongjun's combination was called the Fire Lord combination, while Mubai and Oscar's was called Hungry Tiger, then Tang San and Xiao Wu's Three-Five, and last was Rongrong and Zhuqing's Treasure Cat. Uncle Xiaogang's naming sense wasn't bad, but I wouldn't be caught dead calling myself these things back home.

He then discussed with the receptionist how we wanted to keep our fights away from each other, so that allied people wouldn't need to fight one another and got our request granted—meanwhile, the dean would use our money to keep betting on our fights in our favor.

Hence, I found myself back in the ring right after registration, dressed in a gaudy bright yellow shirt and black pants under the scrutiny and laughter of the audience with my just as yellow mask.

But at least the Bruce Lee homage was strong.

"A new challenger appears!" the announcer said, and the crowd didn't even bother reacting. That was my cue to start walking to the ring, and it was an all too familiar sight. "He calls himself the Amber King" —oh god, no I don't— "and he's a thirty-fourth ranked control system spirit master, here to face our current fighter Hao Long!"

Some cheers came from the crowd, as the man taller than me by another head stepped in.

"Our Hao Long is a thirty-fifth rank battle spirit master, and he's ready and pumped to teach the new blood a valuable lesson!"

More cheers came, but not enough to save face. Points for effort at least, the crowd was just too tough. The bell rang when the announcer left, and the next bell signaled us to reveal our spirits. From the guy, three yellow rings popped out together with a big brown club in his right hand, and he tilted his head at me.

"That can't be right," he said.

I wore my Crown and struck a pose, " _Watta!_ " Damn, I always wanted to do that.

He started laughing then, and swung his club around as he charged for me. "Don't come crying to me after I beat you," he said.

" _We'll see whether your kung-fu measures up to mine_!" I said with a fierce falsetto. This first fight was to test whether I could even hurt the guy without my abilities.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" he said, and swung down, one yellow ring shining.

I watched that Club crash down with a casual pace, perception reinforced by my Crown, and side-stepped completely to sock him good in the rib. After I got my third ring, the quality of my spirit power improved again, and with it, the strength I could display when reinforced. Though I was still nowhere at Tang San or Mubai's level when it came to pure physical strength, though the spirit power quality more than made up for it.

When my knuckles hit him, I felt flesh and bone resist—and the guy was knocked off his feet with the force. He fell onto his side at the ground as some light cheers came on.

"Stupid brat," he said, and stood up again to charge, this time, two yellow rings shone as he suddenly shifted direction mid-swing into a sweep and that club of his became larger.

I crouched down low into his guard and gave him a quick uppercut to the chin, and his feet lifted, but another yellow ring shone and that club of his crashed downwards as he fell back.

I twirled away from his attack by bringing both hands close to my body and spinning away to his off-hand's side—then when that club of his cleared, I extended my arm out to catch him by the neck, and hit him full force with a lariat. He crashed against the ground hard and his head bounced back—but he still swung at my legs.

I jumped up and crashed into him with an elbow drop and quickly rolled away.

By then, people were already laughing, and the guy was so darn red in the face. The beginnings of a bruise on his chin moved about when he said, "Damned slippery shit!" as he tried to get up, then I ran towards him while he was standing and stepped on his knee to kick him square in the face with the other foot.

The crowd laughed some more, but some started booing. I then waited for the guy to get up, who charged again without abandon and just as that yellow ring shone—I spun into a back kick and hit him square in the chest, again taking him off his feet. He got up again after that, and by then it was already useless to keep beating him—maybe against non-battle spirit masters my techniques would work—or at least while using Mantle or with Rongrong's strength boost.

Hao Long roared as he charged, and I wrapped him up in Devour, Shock, and Corrode together and he fell not too long after that, with me still at an acceptable eight-seven percent spirit power.

There was a lull in the crowd when Hao Long's face hit the floor—and no thunderous applause.

"Tough crowd," I couldn't help but say.

The announcer tried hyping up the result but the result was still an unenthusiastic response, and I took my earnings from the desk and retired to the dressing room to quickly get changed. I then found uncle Xiaogang and the rest sitting by arena fifteen, just next to mine, while waiting for Tang San's individual fight. Before I could sit, dean Flender called me up.

"It's dishonorable to attack downed opponents," he said with a deep frown.

Ah. That's why. "Understood, dean.'

I then took my seat next to Rongrong.


	24. Chapter 24

Without suspense, Tang San won against Lin Tian who had a bear spirit, then Mubai won as well against Wang Yunyun with a crocodile spirit. Hongjun blew away a turtle spirit master named Li Bu all the way out of the ring, and the referee had to stop Xiao Wu from murdering this Hong Ji guy with a vine spirit. Zhuqing won too, against some lady who called herself Slender Cat with the longest time of all of us—since the two fought a very mobile battle.

Pair fights came next, and Zhuqing and Rongrong won against the Big Ram combination of two sheep spirit masters. They didn't stand a chance against Zhuqing's boosted speed and power combined, which was a surprise for all of us watching as well. She was never one to hit too hard, but backbreaking labor sure made a difference.

The next fight was Tang San and Xiao Wu against the Demon Axe team, and there really wasn't much to tell besides them winning; and Mubai boosted with Oscar's Eight-linked Salami just spelled doom for that poor pair of agility spirit masters.

Which brings us then to me and Hongjun waiting for our fight to begin by the entrance hall.

"I'll be relying on little brother to keep them away from me," he said, bowing.

I was wearing the same clothes as earlier and Hongjun had on the same themed shirt in bright red. All eight of us wore the same style of dress to the fights uncle made us wear: form fitting black trousers, a solid color shirt, and a sash to keep everything nice and tucked in. Mubai's was white, Tang San's blue, mine was yellow, Xiao Wu with magenta, Rongrong with pink, Hongjun with red, Oscar with brown, and Zhuqing with black. Our masquerade masks also matched the color of our shirts to complete the look.

"Sure thing big brother," I said, returning the gesture. "Now, let's show them hell."

Cheers actually sounded out for once, and Hongjun and I walked out to a bigger audience with the lights dimmed low.

Individual fights sold for the cheapest tickets since the betting wasn't as exciting. There, fights were more or less already decided by the time the ranks were announced, and even then, it was rare for anyone of lower rank to defeat a higher rank save for some rock-paper-scissors type battling. Power types were usually disabled by control types, who were usually defeated by agility types, and were beaten by power types to complete the circle. Our mandated winning streak was just how dean Flender was making a killing with us plowing through the competition.

Group fights however, changed the game completely. Suddenly, two power types might not necessarily fall to two control types because the combination of spirit rings and cultivation could factor in differently mid-way through the fight.

"Let us welcome the next challengers!" the announcer said as we stepped into the ring, spotlights falling onto us. "The Fire Lord combination enters the battle!"

The rings were a lot brighter and bigger, and the audience, rowdier. There were also some extra gimmicks like spotlights I didn't even know existed and even confetti depending on how many wins the combination before us had. We waved and got a cheer back, and Hongjun smiled back from under the mask.

"And now," the announcer said, the lights dimming once more, "our seasoned veterans, the Swift Iron combination take the stage!"

With that, spotlights fell over a pair of a lady dressed in long flowing robes and a buff guy in a filled to near bursting robe. Her eyes matched the light blue of her robes, and the guy's his dark red. When they saw us, the two shared a look and both laughed.

"I wonder what I'll buy later," the guy said, "maybe a nice and juicy steak."

"Zhang Ji, please control yourself," the lady said, "it's rude to ignore our purse."

Hongjun smacked his fists together. "Ah, little brother," he said, "I'll be sure to thoroughly cook our meal before this all ends."

I shrugged, I'd rather not talk big and get my ass handed to me if ever. "Let them be," I said, trying to placate him. That doesn't mean I won't try and make this as satisfying a win as possible though.

At that, both sides tensed up without needing a signal, and the crowd was silenced with the announcer's raised hand. "Both sides," he said, "prepare!"

That was another difference when it came to one-on-one fights, for pair and team battles, there was a time reserved for releasing spirits to further hype up the match as well as to make sure the action got started faster. Two people on each side meant the possibility of ending twice as long, and a bustling arena like this needed a steady flow of shows for the entertainment starved masses.

We released our spirits together, twelve spirit rings floating up in total, and that big man's arms grew longer and got covered in black fur as his legs shortened and his enter body grew larger. The man obviously had a gorilla spirit, and had a configuration of white, yellow, and purple. Next to him, the lady grew a pair of pointed orange ears as her hair turned a shade of reddish brown and two yellow and one purple ring floated up. Her spirit looked like a cat, but her now elongated face said otherwise.

Together, the two gnashed their teeth at the sight before them.

After receiving his third ring, Hongjun's Phoenix Body Enhancement grew a touch more distinct, with his hair growing into a bright magenta mohawk like a phoenix's crest and the evil purple fire aura around him distorting the air, just like the lady, two yellow and one purple ring shone behind him.

Me, I just put on Crown.

"Hmph, resorting to trickery," Zhang Ji said, pounding the ground. "We'll show them, Hua Yin."

I sighed. "Why's it so hard to believe someone has three purple rings anyway?"

Hongjun tapped my shoulder. "Little bro, that's a horrible come back."

I just stared back at him.

The spotlights focused on the ring this time, and the audience went wild.

"Begin!"

Zhang Ji's yellow ring shone as both arms smacked against the stage, and a wave of grey rushed forward like rolling thunder. At the same time, Hua Yin took to the sides with a running start, another yellow ring shining as she got covered in bright orange light.

Hongjun and I ran towards the right, as I extended Shock and Devour over Zhang Ji. His face immediately went rigid, and he tried leaping away only to be unable to escape.

Hua Yin approached us from our far left still running with that light of hers.

We reached Zhang Ji who stood his ground. His white ring shone and his body and muscles became more distinct, a faint grey covering his entire person. By now, I could already feel Hua Yin behind us after she stepped into my Domain. With my light, we had no blind spots in a way. I knew where they'd come from, and some semblance of how they'd act as well, it was just harder to pay attention to in the middle of a fight.

I lunged into a right punch straight for Zhang Ji's left—and he moved to catch it. My hand was caught in a solid grip, and I pulled myself over to his left side feet first. He let go of my hand and tried to body check me away, but he got a face full of Phoenix Fire Wire instead, and as his left hand was about to swat out, I blocked it with a forearm with all my weight against it.

His arm was thrown off enough—but an unrelenting force pushed me away from his body with a violent jolt and I felt like a wall slammed into me.

I crashed into the ground with a face full of dirt and rolled away, and as I was getting up the guy took a full Phoenix Burst up front and his entire person was blown out of the ring in a glorious mess of rags and char. The crowd went wild and Hongjun turned back in time to see Hua Yin stab at him with a hand ablaze in brilliant orange.

I extended Devour, Shock, and Corrode together after her as Hongjun's yellow ring shone.

Hongjun burst into a sphere of intense purple fire as Hua Yin's attack hit his shoulder, who winced when both my light and Hongjun's fire enclosed her. Hongjun then grabbed at her hands and tried pulling but her two yellow rings shone and her body became a brilliant orange blur and slipped from his hold. The spirit power entering me through Devour increased, and I arrived next to Hongjun, who now had a small wound on his pectorals.

So, a blitz wasn't the best of ideas, lesson learned. "Sorry," I said, making sure to cover him.

"Just a flesh wound," he said with a shrug.

When earlier Hua Yin was low-key insulting us with a playful smile, right now, she looked like bloody murder on the rocks. Literal most likely if she could manage. She stood away from us, her purple ring blazing with her hand covered in that intense glow—fighting back Hongjun's evil fire.

I then covered her and most of the ring in Devour, and her face scrunched up some more. Hongjun and I then slowly approached. My Domain's effects reduced the more I increased the range, and intensified when focused, and only with extra exertion of spirit power did it display the full effect even at full range. Our opponent was an agility spirit master with an unknown spirit type, and we were already damaged by her attack, by all intents and purposes, we've already won this bout—but better err on the side of caution.

Hua Yin raised her hand and I added Shock to the mix.

She winced from the added rancor and glared at me with the intensity of a tiger, staying like that for a few good seconds as she clenched her fists.

"I forfeit!" she said, almost spitting at the ground.

Hongjun relaxed his posture and I retracted my Domain to place her just outside of it. Just in case.

The announcer then jumped in and waved us all back to stand down, and all three of us left dispelled our spirits. Mixed reactions came from the crowd as our win was announced, and Zhang Ji stepped up to the ring to escort her down. The two kept looking at us bitterly as they left, and me and Hongjun left as well after the announcer presented us to the people.

We then met the rest of the team in the holding area after since our team fight was up next. Oscar passed Hongjun a sausage and I bandaged up his wound to prevent any further bleeding. We spirit masters healed fast anyway, and the lady's attack barely broke his skin, just enough to draw blood.

"This shouldn't cause any issues," Tang San said, inspecting the first-aid treatment.

"That was a good opening, but you were caught off-guard by that Zhang Ji's third ability," uncle said.

"It won't happen again," me and Hongjun said.

Uncle then debriefed us on our match: we were facing the Boiling Storm team who were facing us with a team of eight versus their usual combination of nine: three lightning element spirits, three water element spirits, and three fire element spirits. Their composition had the three teams acting on their own like little units, and they focused on fighting with a rotation like system where they keep their opponents guessing on who'll attack next with their ever-changing strategy.

Our plan of attack was to instead take out each unit with a major offensive repeated three times using our standard formation. Our three close combat attackers would take the front while Tang San and Hongjun supported the middle, and I, Rongrong, and Oscar held the rear. I was so much weaker without my Hammer, and in terms of control, my abilities were more debuffs than actual disablers. But with the combined boosts of Oscar and Rongrong, we at least had a plan.

Oscar was to keep fueling Rongrong, Hongjun, and me with his recovery sausages while us two guys kept up the pressure at range, and Tang San with his low-cost projectiles would fuck up everyone with Rongrong judging whoever needed her boosts at the time.

A simple plan by all respects—but things have a tendency of going wrong, and should it come to that, it was no holds barred spirit bone action from there. Our positions would then shift into a more mobile strategy with Tang San harassing the enemy from the air and Oscar running support with everyone while carrying Rongrong with his spider lances. Then me and Hongjun will join the front-liners to breakthrough with a strong push.

If the situation took a turn for the worst from there, then I break out with my Hammer and give the opposing team hell. We had masks on anyway, so that should make it harder a bit to tell who's who if ever.

I hope.

We were then ushered into the hallway and uncle had to leave us then after the attendant's urging.

"This will be our first real fight as a team," Tang San said, sticking a hand forward. "Let's all give it our best."

We all nodded, and joined hands, one over the other.

"Remember," Tang San continued, "our spirit bones are our trump cards, and we should avoid their use as much as possible."

"Little Wu and Zhuqing, make sure to stick close," Mubai said. "Let me receive their attacks, and you two find your openings."

The two nodded.

"And we'll provide support from the rear," Oscar said.

"And no using your Hammer unless absolutely necessary," Tang San warned me.

"Understood third brother," I said. Fighting like this was like having both hands tied behind me with one leg over my head. I felt like an absolute joke with those last two fights, and all this secrecy was really grinding at me. But even if the Great Spirit Arena was considered neutral grounds, that no grudges rule didn't extend to the audience attending nor did it prevent rumors from spreading.

A torrent of cheers reverberated from the walls, echoing down the hall.

"That's a huge crowd," Oscar said, swallowing a lump in his throat.

Team fights were the real money makers of the arena, and given how jam-packed our timeslot was and the number of teams to fight on well after us, the income was surely enormous. Maybe I could also introduce cock-fighting here or something, like a casino. Shouldn't be that difficult. Maybe a roulette and some card tables, the only real difficulty there would be teaching enough people the rules.

"Presenting, Shrek's Eight Devils!" came the muffled announcer's voice.

"That's our cue," Tang San said.

We all walked into a sea of people where faces blurred into the colors of the crowds. Duller shades were more common with the higher seats, and the richness of the hues were so obvious from the ring. Tickets were more expensive the closer they were to the action, and there were even private boxes cut-off from the general admission.

Eight people walked out from the other side dressed in the colors of their themes: blue for lightning, light blue for water, and pink for fire. A horrible choice to be honest, but we weren't really one to talk with all our colors so distinct from each other.

"It's beginning," Rongrong said next to me.

After uncle debriefed me and everyone else about what happened with the ant nest and how I came into possessing that spirit bone, he then determined that it couldn't have had an attacking ability since that wasn't the function of the queen. Instead, he was intrigued with how closely that soldier guarded the royal chamber and from there deduced the possibility of a sort of guardian type designation. With the continent's foremost theoretical expert on spirits giving his approval, Rongrong decided to risk it.

When she finished absorbing it, her spirit power was brought to the cusp of the thirtieth rank and she even obtained exactly what uncle thought she would. The spirit bone's ability was called the Queen's Guard, and applied a fifteen percent spirit power boost to whoever she targeted at the cost of that person taking twenty percent of all damage she received. Taking half or more would've been nicer, but this was already pretty good for a bone not even in the ten-thousand-year range. Also, since she had a torso spirit bone, activating it didn't make any visible changes to her body besides the light from its ability shining out and connecting her to her guard, and even then, her spirit abilities worked that way anyway.

At least with this, she was somewhat safer.

"Stay close to me and Oscar," I said.

She nodded.

We stepped up to the ring as one with wave after wave of cheers rolling as we approached the center. Sixteen people altogether took up positions around the ring: us Devils with the three-two-three, and the Boiling Storm with a horizontal three-two-three. The sub-team with two members only was the water group, and the lightning and fire sub-teams took their flanks. Uncle's debriefing didn't contain any spirit abilities, just their names, ranks, and spirits. At best, we at least knew the average for their team was rank thirty-three, with two powers at the thirty-seventh rank being the leaders of the lightning and fire sub-teams.

The announcer raised his hand, "Ready!"

Fifty-two spirit rings all floated up, creating a spectacle for all the stadium to see. Two members of the lightning sub-team had configurations of two yellow and one purple while the last had three yellow, both members of the water sub-team had white, yellow, purple, and the fire sub-team had one with optimal configuration, and the last two also with the ten-hundred-thousand combination. Our side had all ideal configurations and two had better than ideal, but we lost out with the number of spirit rings by two.

As our spirits came out, those three with the ideal configurations were all beast spirit masters, and of the two lightning members, the taller of the two had his neck grow a bit longer as his hair stood on end with little arcs of electricity coiling about him with patches of light blue and orange showing up on his skin. Then the one next to him turned a shade of grey paler as his mouth grew larger, and his entire body got covered in electricity too. The fire spirit master on the other hand, seemed to grow plates of rounded red dermal armor with his hands extending two long talons forward.

All the others behind them were tool spirit users. The last lightning member had a large fan, then the two water members had a pearl floating above a clam and the other with what looked like a blob of corals, and the two fire users had one with a flaming saber, and the other with a torch.

More cheers sounded out, then faded as those spotlights grew in intensity, highlighting each fighter's position.

"Are you ready to rumble?!" the announcer said, and the crowd went wild.

Tension filled the air and my palms were beginning to sweat. To my sides were Rongrong and Oscar with their bodies stiff, and in front of me was Hongjun with a fierce smile on and an unwavering Tang San. At the back of my mind, I knew I had the potential to beat anyone we saw here given enough preparations—and since weapons weren't banned, I had my explosives to rely on should push come to shove. But that was a horrible way of settling things that could backfire in a just as horrible way should my bombs prove useless. Note to self, test these bastards some more when I have the time.

"Shrek's Eight Devils versus Boiling Storm, begin!"

The first to act was the lightning team, and Blue and Grey's purple rings shone and the two brought their hands to the ground as a wave of lightning travelled over the ground. Meanwhile, the fire team circled around under a blazing trail led by Torch, while the water team stayed in the rear as all three rings shone on both Clam and Coral. Bubbles floated upwards from Clam, and blue spirit energy shot out from Coral and hit the lightning team.

Lines of blue shot out everywhere from Tang San, wrapping around everyone's waists and shoulders, and he pulled back our three forward attackers, he then tugged me forward and I concentrated Devour and Corrode into a wedge in front of me and absorbed as much spirit power as I could from the two attacks while everyone else dodged to one side. As the wave of lightning was about to near me, and extended a trail of Shock from in front to connect a line of electricity over to the path of the fire team—and the wave followed Shock's trail.

Mubai, Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu then all charged forward while shifting positions under Tang San's masterful use of Bind. A tug at the waist meant to go forward, while a tug at the left shoulder meant defend, and attack with the right. Waist and left meant retreat, and waist and right meant reorient, and a tug at all three meant he was going to separate us.

We shifted our formation to give the fire team our right flank, and Oscar and Rongrong switched places to place her at the furthest from the rear as I moved next to Hongjun after Oscar passed us three with eight linked-sausages each. Oscar's ability worked to reinforce the spirit force behind any ability by twenty percent, meaning any spirit ability, whether single-use or sustained, would become stronger by that much at the cost of increased spirit power cost.

This included Rongrong's Boosts.

The two earlier attacks cut off the fire team's charge, and I got back a good chunk of spirit power from that last attack, so I extended Devour over the three, waiting with Shock for them to come closer.

Plates' yellow ring shone, and he shot a fireball towards us on which I concentrated Devour while eating my sausages. Oscar's Eight-linked Salami increased the potency of my Domain for as long as I kept it up, and as I finished each link, Devour's distinct golden intensity grew.

"Mubai, Wave!" said Tang San, as white Swords flashed towards the sides of the now weakening fireball.

Torch, Plates, and Saber all swatted away the missiles that flew at them and continued their advance in a row: Torch now covered in a ball of fire with his white ring shining, Saber with his yellow ring and sword also glowing, and Plates with another yellow, but this time with his claws ablaze.

Hongjun then met the fire ball with a Fire Wire as he and I moved forward.

He moved to block Plates and Saber while I moved for Torch, and just as I was about to break out with a punch, a different hue of gold colored my body together with bright red, and the three attacker's faces went from confident smiles to pained grimaces.

Hongjun covered himself in Bathing Fire just as Plates and Saber's slashes were about to reach him—and I broke out with Shock and Corrode at full intensity over the two. My spirit power drained at an astonishing rate, but the two's faces crumpled under my Domain, and Torch looked away long enough for me to sock him good in the chin with an uppercut.

Right now, Rongrong's strength boost was at an all-time high of fifty percent.

Torch's flame was lesser in quality to Hongjun's and didn't even burn as much as that soldier ant's puke, so I made sure to bury my fist into his face as hard as I could. His feet left the ground from the impulse, and I chased after him quick thanks to my Crown's increase in perception, then elbowed his face hard into the ground—slamming it against the stone ring and cracking against it.

He didn't get up after that.

Damn that felt good. Meanwhile, Hongjun's flame stuck like heavy tar onto Plates and Saber, and the latter started attacking wildly once he found he couldn't dispel the intensified flame. After absorbing the Acid Snare Ant Soldier, Hongjun's sticky flames became even more tenacious and now had the added effect of burning through spirit power, meaning anyone who wanted to keep the flames back would have to double their efforts to do so. With Hongjun, Rongrong, and I all boosted by another twenty percent for our sustained abilities, with another fifteen for me thanks to Rongrong's spirit bone, then these guys thinking they had an easy time with the rear just got a horrible surprise.

Hongjun and I nodded to each other, and Plates' purple ring shone—creating a large explosion with me and Hongjun caught in the middle.

But a strong pull took me and him out of the blast zone and safely back into the formation. Mubai glowing red and white was blocking Blue and with Vajra transformation, while Zhuqing and Xiao Wu both distracted Grey. Meanwhile, the two lightning members were suppressed by Tang San's constantly flying and erupting Swords, while the two water spirit masters were being covered by Fan fending off San's black Needles that kept flying about everywhere.

On our side, Plates was able to remove Hongjun's flames, but Saber wasn't as well-off, his body was now starting to turn a dangerous red in places as his face cycled between rage and worry in quick bursts. Devour and Hongjun's evil flames together burned spirit power away at an astonishing rate, and him not using any spirit abilities to try and do what Plates did meant he had nothing going for him.

I charged forward then, again getting boosted with Rongrong's red. Right now, Rongrong didn't have a choice with performing her boosts, and if she gave someone something, then she could only give everyone else the same thing. Starting her Heart Separation Control was something uncle wanted her to do during one discussion, but the constant physical training didn't give her any chance at the peace of mind she needed to prepare herself for the technique.

As a workaround, we all then agreed she'd only ever use one type of boost at any given time to make sure she kept her spirit power in check. Right now, Strength was her sole boost.

Plates had three abilities: fire slash, fireball, and explosion, and he again used fireball, this time aiming for Rongrong—while I rushed Plates hard and tackled him to the ground. Hongjun was pulled upwards by Tang San and intercepted the fireball with Burst Fire, dispelling the flames, while I fully retracted my Domain to cover only Plates and pulled hard with Devour, while at the same time Shock and Corrode ground him down with Rongrong's extra spirit power boost from her spirit bone.

Plates' struggled hard against me, but with me hanging onto him with a sleeper choke while separating his legs with my own made it hard for him to fight back in a meaningful way, the few moments he'd elbow me at the ribs were too weak thanks to my smaller body, and his struggling started getting weaker and weaker.

Just then, Saber appeared above me with his sword held high—but was also blown away with another Fire Burst, with the flames burning me too from the proximity, but Devour solved that issue quickly. Plates then stopped struggling as Saber was announced disqualified from ring out. I gave Plate another few squeezes to make sure he was out cold, and when I was already sure. I let him go, and dragged his body over together with Torch's to near where Tang San was, while Hongjun moved up together with me.

By this time, Blue and Grey had gotten some good shots at Mubai, Xiao Wu, and Zhuqing who were smoking and burned at places, and just then, Rongrong's light left me and the three were covered in a mix of purple: Rongrong's red Strength and blue Speed. The tide changed just as quick, and I dragged the two unconscious people further forward, keeping Devour trained on them.

Whenever Blue or Grey would shoot out their lightning, I'd meet the attack with a full power Corrode and Devour while redirecting some of the attack with Shock, and the two's faces became more and more enraged as time went on. With my batteries, I could keep going until they hit empty, and with Oscar now free to supply Tang San with Eight-link sausages…

A white Sword struck Fan's hand, drawing blood, and the lull in his defense was enough of a hole for San to cover him, Clam, and Coral with his Needles, and when that blue light from the two water members faded, Blue and Grey quickly fell to a beat down from a smiling Mubai, and two very very annoyed girls with burnt hair.

There came a lull in the cheering as Blue finally fell, and after that came a loud roar of clapping and shouting, and though a little worse for wear after the whole ordeal, we came out on top for our first ever fight as a full team.

"The winners! Shrek's Eight Devils!" came the announcer's sweet sweet voice.


	25. Chapter 25

After our win, everyone collected their winnings for the day, and except for Oscar and Rongrong, we all got a whopping thirty gold coins in that one sitting. In comparison, earning that big of a profit meant would take me the better part of a week to stockpile sellable goods while the actual selling off would happen gradually to accumulate high-value products or cash. On the other hand, Spirit Elders would receive their monthly stipends of a hundred gold every month—which I couldn't get because of how unique my ring configuration was and how closely tied it was to my identity if ever—and that was about thirty gold for ten days.

No wonder this Spirit Arena place was so full of spirit masters. Just from the money they made selling those tickets for one silver for the cheapest seats was already a lot compared to the more lucrative pair fights which costed five, and the team fights which went for ten. But the real clincher there was with how each fight had a cost to watch, and people usually purchased the one-day pass which costed one gold. And that was on a per person basis. Just thinking how many people there were in that jam-packed arena all paying one gold at most made me drool at the possibilities. Sure, after taking off costs, fifty-thousand or so gold would drop to a lot less than that, but for them to be this bustling means they surely earned more than just that.

Uncle walked with us outside of the arena with the other teachers while Flender caught up after we got to the hotel. He then ushered everyone in and showed us all the bags of gold he had with him—the money he earned from the eight to one odds we had against Boiling Storm. All in all, one-hundred and four thousand gold was laid out on the table, with me, San, and Flender raking in the most profits at sixteen thousand each. Everyone else was still reluctant at betting hard on our team from the start save for Rongrong and Xiao Wu who both gave a thousand versus us three's two.

As for the pair and individual fights, I was only able to get eight hundred and three hundred at most since Flender putting in any more money than he did would've tipped the odds to a lesser payout.

"Tsk tsk," I said, shaking my head. "Big brothers didn't have enough faith."

Mubai, Oscar, and Hongjun all looked at me with flat stares.

"My income isn't as absurd as what you have, little Jin," Mubai said with a sigh.

"And didn't you still owe me that sausage cart?" Oscar added.

"We haven't had the time," I said. "We've been up in the mountains since yesterday."

"I also spend most of my money on my uhh… evil fire," Hongjun said.

Which wasn't wrong per se, but I also knew he hadn't needed to do it as much as before since we've all been exhausting our spirit power so much until now. "Fine," I said. "But don't count on these good odds happening again anytime soon."

The next days after that went on like the first two phases of our training: excellence through mind-numbing repetition—with the added spice of facing a different opponent every day.

Individual fights were the bane of my existence, both as a person and as someone making money. Their payouts were the worst, and having only my Crown made things a lot harder. On the plus side, I was a lot more proficient now at the martial arts I've been practicing. But unfortunately, branching into the more advanced moves was stopped by my lack of knowledge on the better techniques.

So instead, I just polished up the basics as best as I could.

"Amber King versus Qiu Kong! Begin!"

I dashed forward while summoning my Crown, and Qiu Kong did the same. Behind him, two yellow and one purple ring shone, and his arms grew into a pair of grey wings after.

Well, fuck.

As he took to the skies, I stopped my run and just stood there, not really sure what to do. Flying types were the ones I hated the most, and that bet of mine for another two thousand coins was starting to sound like a horrible idea. The odds were so good at five to one and I just couldn't help it after Flender signaled me.

I sighed and crossed my arms, as Qiu Kong's other yellow ring shone. He waved his arms hard my way as feathers flew out in flurry of sharp grey light.

I expanded Devour in a cone in front of me and sapped the spirit power off those feathers as best as I could before dodging away, and still they stabbed into the ground. The damned things moved too fast.

The crowd was laughing now, and me running around doesn't really help my situation. So, I expanded Domain to cover the entire ring and sucked in from all directions with Devour. A war of attrition was the sort of thing I was best at, and that guy keeping up his flight while using his ranged attack was bound to run out of spirit power sooner or later while I could just cultivate here and now to keep myself fresh.

As I did so, the crowd started booing, and I flipped everyone there the bird. Fuck them all for wanting an exciting fight from something this stupid.

"Not even gonna run?" Qiu Kong said from so high up. Unfortunately for him, there was an imposed limit to how far he can fly up to keep things as fair as possible within the ring. The total dimensions we could move around in for one-on-one fights was just a thirty by thirty by thirty-meter cube to keep things fast, while pair fights grew to a forty-meter cube, and team fights to a fifty-meter cube. My Domain's max range right now was just twenty meters, which meant he had another ten or so of upper volume to move around in.

His third ring will determine how the fight will go from here.

Qiu Kong only kept shooting out his feathers, and from so far away I had enough time to dodge to a safe distance. From how hard his feathers hit the ground though, I'd say he was at least one rank higher than me because of how hard it was to drain his feathers completely of spirit power, but also because they became brittle after hitting. I was able to counter him, but not by much.

The booing went on, and the guy just kept shooting.

From the last three individual and pair fights I'd been in, I'd already built up a bit of a reputation for being a close ranged fighter. Even if the little things I knew on karate, muay thai, and taekwondo were not as effective without Rongrong's super strength boost, the pro-wrestling and grappling were already quite a lot. Knowledge of martial arts was practically non-existent here, and once I'd latched onto someone, no one really knew what to do after except try and punch or kick or slam me into the ground.

Qiu Kong kept throwing feathers and insults my way but never really did anything besides that, and I just stood my ground.

One minute turned to two, then turned to three, and when the people finally got tired of cursing, Qiu Kong eventually conceded without even trying.

I won but didn't really feel it then, but the cash sure as fuck made my day.

But the pair fight after with Hongjun told me everything I needed to know.

"Fire Lord combination versus Double Dove! Begin!"

Lo and behold, there was Qiu Kong again, this time with an older dude who sorta looked like him called Qiu Gong. Brothers from the looks of it. The two's yellow rings shone as they took to the skies, but this time, both their purple rings shone and they started beating their wings hard as a cyclone started forming from thirty meters up in the air.

"So that's his third ring," I said.

"Little brother," Hongjun said, "my fire doesn't reach that high."

"I know."

"Now what?"

I shrugged. "We wait."

The cyclone kept getting larger and larger.

"That's a lot of spirit power," Hongjun said.

Then a thought occurred to me. "Brother, could you try setting fire to my third ability? We share the same source in spirit beast anyway, so there could be a reaction."

"That doesn't make sense," he said.

I shook my head. "Just try it."

"Fine."

His and my third ring's shone, and just as he let out his Phoenix Burst, I extended Corrode over to the two flying spirit masters.

They too released their ability and a great column of wind barreled forward to meet that smaller plume of flames following the golden light.

But the flames disappeared after five meters.

"Well, that's that then," I said.

"Dammit Jin!" Hongjun said as we scrambled away from the combined thousand-year abilities.

The wind chased after us, and Hongjun covered himself in Bathing Fire and released his Burst Fire at an angle while I extended Devour and Corrode over the whistling pillar.

We deflected it enough that he and I just barely managed to keep ourselves within the ring.

"I trusted you!" he screamed as we both pulled ourselves up.

"Lesson learned," I said, sticking my tongue out as I shrugged.

What we came back to however was a barrage of feathers—coming only from Qiu Gong

So, just like earlier, we both just kept dodging while the two kept flying and the last one kept shooting.

"You guys suck!" I said. "Just one pop and that's it? I've seen more gusto from a geriatric!" Which was true. Grandpa Shan had… well, visited the brothels before back when we still did those trips back and forth from Heaven Dou and Nuoding. He offered me a go as well, but at the time I couldn't even have an erection so I had to pass.

The two's faces went red, and the audience nearest to the front started laughing.

"You'll pay for that!" said Qiu Kong, and he started shooting feathers out himself. Running around wasn't really a problem anymore for me and Hongjun after those hell marathons uncle made us do, so on the laughing died and gave way to booing as those two dove masters kept trying without flair to try and hit us.

"You idiots couldn't even hit the ground if you fell!" I said, and the booing gave way to some laughs.

They kept shooting.

"I bet going to the toilet sucks for whoever comes after you!"

More laughs, more shooting.

Then Hongjun slipped up and got hit by a feather in the shoulder. "Dammit Jin!"

The audience laughed some more.

"Did the lady have to hold it for you just so you could score?"

Even more laughs, and Hongjun got hit by another feather because he was too distracted. "Fuck me!"

And even more laughs sounded out.

"I don't think that'll work out! You'll probably have to do all the work yourself with these guys"

Even more laughs, and Hongjun started blushing while laughing.

"What did Kong say to Gong after he finished with the toilet?" A beat. "I'm sorry."

More laughs echoed about, and Hongjun had to pluck three feathers out of his back.

Then finally, the two snapped and charged for us and Hongjun unceremoniously blew one away with Phoenix Burst while I elbowed Qiu Kong in the face with a satisfying crunch. I was thrown off the ring myself, but that didn't matter since Hongjun stayed inside.

The team fight after was hell though.

"Shrek's Eight Devils versus Forest Keepers! Ready!"

We had the same standard three-two-three formation, while our opponents used an inverted triangle with a four-three-one. Two of the four layer had ideal configurations, with one's hands turning into a pair of enlarged Gauntlet like projections with a patch of green on each tip, and the other enlarged by a lot and his head grew a pair of thick, curved Horns that made him look like a really buff midget by comparison. The two next to them had the white-yellow-purple combination, with one equipped with a large round Shield, and the other surprisingly had a Hammer, though it looked plain compared to the Clear Sky Hammer's intricate patterns.

The layer of three had one white-yellow-yellow with a Bow spirit, then another with white-yellow-purple whose legs grew longer like Xiao Wu but with a faint sheen of green as her hair stood up into a Mohawk like Hongjun's but with a green to yellow to red coloration, and the last was a three yellow with a club whom I'd met before: Hao Long.

I waved at him and he just scowled my way.

The last had another ideal configuration and had a large Gong with him.

"Begin!"

Gong's three rings shone as he hit his gong and a wave of bronze light spread out and rippled through his team, who all started charging.

Tang San pulled the three attackers back and we shifted into a breakthrough formation with Mubai as the spear head, then San, me, and Hongjun behind him, and the four behind all of us. Mubai's yellow and purple rings shone together as red and gold lights infused him. In this formation, Rongrong's super boost was our life line, and Oscar's sole job was to make sure her spirit power never dropped.

Mubai grew a size larger as he met Gauntlet's thousand-year punch and Horns' thousand-year charge. Light Wave and Phoenix Burst thundered forward to meet them, and White Swords and Black Needles flew everywhere all under the intense light of Devour, Shock, and Corrode.

The first one that'd reach us was Horns, so all three's attacks concentrated on him. Mubai's light beam reached Horns first, and the guy spat out a mouthful of blood as Hongjun's fire blew him back with Tang San's Swords assaulting him from all directions.

Gauntlet's green glowing hand I then kicked away from reaching Mubai, who spun into a back fist to knock away the flying shield about to hit me while Hammer's downswing was blocked by Tang San's bare hands and diverted to the side as he stabbed him with a Sword in the gut and gave him a kick to the face.

Another Phoenix Burst blew forward into Hammer with a grand flurry of purple, and I looked just in time to see an arrow come at my face—that was deflected by a spinning blur of black and blue and red that crashed into Gauntlet with ear-piercing screeches as a hundred hellish scratches wore down on his armored hands. Hao Long's club was swinging to the side and crashed into Xiao Wu—who teleported behind him with her legs already clamped down on his head, her waist glowing pink while the rest of her body burned a bloody red.

I tackled Shield from behind the front line as Hao Long's head was literally planted into the ground.

Gong's gong sounded out again, and Shield pushed me off with a strong check, my body clearing him and the ground by a good foot. Then I took a page from Xiao Wu's book and clamped my feet onto his hips and recovered into a mount as red light pulsed through my veins. He summoned his shield back to him, but I squeezed him hard with my knees just above his hips, as I dug into a more stable position.

Green flashed from the corner of my eyes but a timely Light Wave saved my head from getting taken off Mohawk's glowing shin.

A Sword burst from the ground and tipped away Shield's shield long enough for me to hit him hard in the ribs with a big hook.

He recalled his shield again as his purple ring shone and I flew away from him, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he did the same. I recovered into a roll in time to see Hongjun tackle Horns while covered in intense flames and to give the guy another face full of Phoenix Burst.

I got up and ran towards Bow, as I saw Gauntlet hit Mubai with a punch that exploded—only for the boss to come back with a punch of his own despite the injuries he sustained. My shadow grew a touch darker as I noticed Zhuqing running beside me, while Xiao Wu teleported next to Hammer.

Horns and Hao Long were already down for the count. The next step then was to take out their ranged and auxiliary supports.

Bow's white ring shone as a faint sheen covered the length of his grey bow, and he swung his weapon straight at me, but Zhuqing stopped him with both hands as I headbutted the guy and mounted him as well while she continued forward for Mohawk.

I then quickly repositioned myself to keep punching Bow in the ribs, and the moment he raised a shoulder I slid over to his back and fought him tooth and nail to get into a sleeper choke as all three of my lights bore down on him.

Bow tried slashing at my arms but he could only scratch them and I stuck through the pain.

Gauntlet was continuously getting pelted with Swords while Mubai met him punch for punch, and Hongjun kept Shield distracted enough for Xiao Wu to pick up an Eight-link. I turned to see Zhuqing stabbing for Mohawk, and Bow finally stopped struggling by then.

I waited for another three seconds before running straight for Gong.

Zhuqing was thrown back by Mohawk's thousand-year ring kick, and I shifted gears to come to her side. Mohawk then fell back to Gong's position as Zhuqing got up herself. We then charged together for the two.

Gong's three rings shone again, and he struck his spirit as all the light that rippled out was absorbed by Mohawk. Her legs grew more muscular, and her spirit power became visible from the concentration, but onwards me and Zhuqing still went.

White Swords then spread out from behind us and assaulted Mohawk's downward crashing axe-like right leg.

I then moved forward with Zhuqing right behind me, and dodged her kick that dispelled all of San's support, and her purple ring shone again as she kicked with another right roundhouse this time while hopping back.

The two of us then sidestepped away from her kick to the far left and caught her off-guard long enough for Zhuqing to go after Gong, while I hugged her from the side and bent back with a snap into a side suplex and we crashed into the ground with her shoulders and neck-first. She pushed me off just like Bow, and I hopped away from her and saw Gong already unconscious by the side, and Zhuqing smiling just the tiniest bit.

Mohawk then fell after Zhuqing hit her in the back of the head, and we moved back to join the already ending fight with Gauntlet on the ropes, Hammer's head planted into the ground just like Hao Long, and Shield having just flown out of the ring.

By then, Gauntlet finally threw in the towel.

This was the fastest fight we'd ever won, but also the one where I was injured the most. The odds weren't as good back with Boiling Storm, with a five to one, and my two-thousand coins only inflated to ten-thousand, which was already a lot by all respects. I then took a quick trip to the forests with teacher Zhao to take in some life force directly from the surrounding plants, and was delighted after finding out Zhuqing and Rongrong finally broke through the thirtieth rank when I got back.

We then paused the third stage training to get the two their dues—since they wouldn't be able to compete in the Spirit Grandmaster tier anymore, and they'd need the extra ring to make sure they could at least contend with the fighter of the next level up.

This time, all the teachers went with us to the forest, with Flender leading the charge together with uncle in his arms.

We arrived a lot faster in Star Dou Forest than last time since we didn't need to take as many breaks, and when we did, no one even needed to take a breather so we just directly went to look for suitable spirit beasts. Xiao Wu already brokered a peace treaty with Da Ming and Er Ming on our behalf, though only I and uncle Hao were aware. Well, it wasn't really a peace treaty but more of a restraining order—turns out her big brother missed her so much he didn't think twice about rushing towards his little sister who was in the middle of all that human presence. Granted he was also worried about the distinct power he sensed at the time, though we were lucky that grandpa Meng didn't see through sister Wu, or at least I hope he didn't.

"I wonder what sort of insect we'll see this time," Tang San said while chuckling.

"Please don't even start," I said.

"We had three out of four insects for those rings we all obtained last time," Hongjun said. "Meeting some more doesn't seem as unlikely since you're around."

"Insects are all very powerful beasts on their own right," uncle added. "And you were really lucky for getting such suitable rings from them."

I didn't choose them though.

Zhuqing walked up to me. "Little brother, do with me the same you did for fatty and sausage uncle," she said all serious.

Mubai looked at me intently and swallowed hard.

The others also looked at all of us, and Rongrong spoke up as well, "You already gave me a spirit bone, why not do the same as well?" She winked at that.

I wanted to get some help from Tang San to help repress the energies with the Clear Sky aura, or at least have him supercharge me with that strange spirit power of his. "Could you help me with the spirit power?'

"You have your teachers here," Flender said. "I believe our spirit power should suffice?"

Tang San shook his head. "Sorry dean, but Jin needs someone with a gently spirit power nature, and my Blue Silver Grass is something he's already so familiar with. I should be the one to do this." He then turned to the two girls. "But are you really sure you wish to take this risk?

The two nodded, and teacher Zhao laughed with a hearty bellow. "These two are the only ones left to exceed their limits, and Mubai should be due his fourth ring soon, I doubt he won't request that you allow him the honor as well?"

I met Mubai's eyes who nodded with firm resolution.

"At this rate, I should probably start charging people for my services," I said with a shrug.

"I'm willing to pay the price," Zhuqing said, stepping up.

"Err, I was kidding."

Rongrong narrowed her eyes at me.

"I swear I was kidding."

After that it took us the better part of two days of beating back haughty spirit beasts from attacking our camp and it felt so damn good to be using my Hammer again. With the forest so dense with foliage, I could keep Devour on at its maximum output and keep using Mantle to reinforce myself with each attack. Perhaps after I increase my spirit power some more, I could finally sustain Mantle indefinitely just through Devour. I was nowhere near close yet, but in time it should be possible.

We found Rongrong's ring first.

Uncle pointed it out when we reached a small stream pool a short walk away from the sole river that ran through the forest—knowledge care of Xiao Wu. She threatened me again with a live grilling if I ever revealed her secret ahead of time.

The plant type spirit was called a Clear Water Hyacinth, and we picked out the one with just the two colors of dull pink and purple since those were the ones with cultivation just slightly above two-thousand years. I then helped Rongrong absorb it using the Clear Sky aura to suppress any excess energies while Tang San boosted my spirit power with his, but it seems her torso bone already took care of any problems before they even popped up.

It only took her a short seven hours to finish, and the ability she got was a spirit power boost—just exactly what we needed for the coming fights, and not to mention her boosts now brought everyone up to forty-percent on her own, and sixty with Oscar's help.

Moving on, Zhuqing's beast found us instead.

Xiao Wu had a bitter expression when she looked that Yaksha Assassin bug in the eyes. They were sinister and cowardly existences that liked to ambush the weak and unsuspecting according to her, sometimes just for the heck of it since their cultivation rose faster the more they slaughtered. Uncle said its sinister nature suited Zhuqing's spirit so she immediately agreed. Xiao Wu also helped me identify its cultivation age to just above two thousand, again without anyone knowing, and I was able to give Zhuqing my guarantee, so she killed it there and then.

The absorption process was a lot harsher than Rongrong's but it wasn't as hard as Hongjun or Oscar's since Tang San was with me. Its sinister energy kept trying to lash out, but Zhuqing's own spirit didn't reject the ring one bit, so even if I had to keep it suppressed with both the Clear Sky aura and some of Devour to feed off the spikes of energy, things still went better than the fountains of blood I had to deal with on my own.

We took twelve hours to finish the absorption, and unfortunately, we didn't really get any spirit bones from the ordeal, though Zhuqing was surprised to find herself already at the thirty-second rank versus Rongrong's still thirty-first. And her new was called the Life Cleaving Slash that allowed her to steal life force directly with a successful attack that drew blood.

Satisfied, we all then returned to Suotuo that same day, though Xiao Wu looked a bit down.


	26. Chapter 26

That last trip took us seven days total, just enough time to get back into the thick of the fights. Points calculation were done at the end of the month, and assuming we kept up our team's winning streak, then that was enough to rake in the Silver Fighter Badge by the end of this next month. One point was awarded for each win, and five successive wins nets another ten after the next, so six wins total would have an accumulated sixteen points, then seven would be twenty-seven, thirty-eight, forty-nine, then sixty for ten straight wins. After ten straight wins, a hundred then is added instead of ten, meaning eleven wins would become a hundred and sixty-one, then two-hundred and sixty-two, and so on and so on.

Also, this count was separate for each category of fight, so with my current eight-win streak so far for all, I had already accumulated seventy-six points. Relative to our goal of a thousand points for the silver spirit badge, I only needed to win thirteen times straight for all three categories given the point system. However, Rongrong and Oscar couldn't join the individual fights so they needed at least fifteen wins straight to reach their goal.

Until this next month was over, I had no choice but to win at all costs—even if it meant eating some losses with the betting.

Uncle Xiaogang started us in the arena at the second week of the seventh month—which reminds me, I missed my birthday three weeks ago. Twelve months were divided into thirty days, with weeks in the normal seven, only problem was there were no weekdays or weekends since days didn't have any distinct names besides calling it the first day, second day, and so on, hence how weird it was to tell the dates. The last five days of the year were then bunched up into a five-day long celebration thus completing the three hundred and sixty-five days.

Missing the anniversary of my being here for eleven years already wasn't that important. But it'd have been nice to celebrate it still. After all, I'd found a home here when I didn't even think it possible.

The following month, I completed my minimum goal of thirteen wins just before losing to this Mad Xi guy with a rhinoceros spirit in the one-on-ones. Thirty-eighth rank spirit power was just too high a gap to make up for with just a bit of physical strength. A loss deducted one point from the contender and with a thousand and eighty-nine points to spare, losing wasn't so bad a deal. Me and Hongjun then made sure to pay him and his spider spirit control system partner two-fold, and the guy flew hard against the wall from Hongjun's flames while I drained his lady partner as hard as I could as she fell into unconsciousness.

I also broke through to the thirty-fifth rank with that last fight—so it wasn't a complete bust.

The team fight after wasn't exactly the best either.

"Shrek's Eight Devils versus Mad Battle team! Ready!"

Mad Xi and Yin Zhing were the captain and vice-captains of the team we were fighting, and it wasn't often this sort of situation occurred. I was still smarting from when Mad Xi threw me out of the ring, but for sure he was still feeling the burn from Hongjun's flames and that Yin couldn't have recovered her spirit power as fast.

The two threw me a seething glare as both sides released our spirits. We were evenly matched in terms of number of spirit rings, but we lost in terms of total rank. All members in the Mad Battle team had spirit power at the thirty-fifth rank at least, and right now, our team's ranks were: boss Dai still at thirty-eight, Tang San now at thirty-seven, me at thirty-five, Xiao Wu and Hongjun at thirty-three, Oscar and Zhuqing at thirty-two, and Rongrong at thirty-one.

We had our usual formation of three-two-three, while the opponents had a three-three-two.

Mad Xi grew in size as layers of grey armor covered his body. He had a white-yellow-purple configuration, and his three abilities were: an empowered punch, a charge, and a strength buff respectively. Yin Zhing on the other hand, had an ideal configuration of yellow-yellow-purple, and her spirit was a spider that caused her long hair to bunch up into eight arms. Her three abilities were: web weave, web cut, and some sort of buff that allowed her to move around with her hair-legs for her thousand-year ring. Its real merit lay in the increase of her mobility, though she lucked out with Hongjun's tenacious flames.

At Mad Xi's sides were two guys who grew ram horns each, then Yin had another two guys who grew brown furry tails behind them and adopted monkey-like postures. Last, were the two at the rear, one with a dinner plate, and the other with a short spear-like weapon. All six of their remaining members had white-yellow-purple configurations.

"Begin!"

The first to act was Plate, whose three rings shone as Oscar finished up his incantation for an Eight-link sausage while Tang San let out a flurry of Needles and Swords, one batch flying upwards, and another two at each flank.

A faint reddish light entered the Mad Battle team as Oscar passed the sausages to Rongrong, and as one, all our opponents let out a ferocious roar.

Spear and Yin stayed behind to cover Plate, while everyone else on their side moved to attack with spirit rings blazing.

Rongrong finished her sausages and set her red and yellow lights on all of us except Oscar who was now producing Recovery Sausages left and right after passing me an Eight-link.

An extra sixty percent spirit power was no laughing matter to anyone involved, and with it, Zhuqing was that much faster, or Mubai just as strong. Essentially, it improved everyone from the ground up instead of through a singular attribute, and together with another boost of strength, fighting hand-to-hand just became so much more fun.

I extended Devour and Shock, boosted by the twenty from Oscar and the sixty from Rongrong, to completely cover our side of the battlefield, and just then, all our opponents seemed to slow under my light.

Boss Dai and Mad Xi collided with their yellow and purple rings shining, and Hongjun intercepted the two Rams with Fire Wire further boosted by Bathing Fire.

Monkey One dodged Zhuqing's Stab in time, but his body stuttered just enough for her to chain into an uppercut Cleave that threw the guy out of the ring. At the same time, Xiao Wu teleported behind her target who lashed out with a kick that hit her in the stomach—but it only threw him off balance.

Her Waist Bow ability didn't lose one bit to Mubai's strengthening abilities, and it was just Monkey Two's rotten luck that he had to hit her square right where she was strongest. The guy's head was then planted in the ground without ceremony.

Plate and Yin fell to the rain of Needles that flew their way, but Spear kept his cool long enough to throw his spirit forward with all three rings shining just before his entire person was perforated by Swords.

His spirit wasn't dispelled after those massive injuries, and it kept flying towards us in the back row.

Hongjun intercepted the missile with another Burst Fire, and the resulting heat was enough to stagger Mad Xi long enough for boss Dai to make him eat a Light Wave to the face.

The spear deviated, but corrected itself mid-flight and by then, it was already too far for anyone else up front to react. I didn't know whether I could defend against it without my Hammer, but I was willing to try.

Spear's missile burned with an intense white, and I reinforced myself with as much spirit power as I could.

But a flash of brilliant blue intercepted the attack, shattering in the process.

I looked to my right and saw Oscar spit out a mouthful of blood with four broken spider legs while the other four kept him standing.

"I can be cool too," he said, and threw the shards from his external bone over to Tang San. This was one of our contingencies should it ever occur—and to think we'd have to use it now. His spirit bone was durable enough to receive a half-assed punch or two from boss Dai's Vajra transformation, but if he were serious then Oscar's bones would shatter and release the Man-faced Demon Spider's toxin.

Hence, this strategy was a counter based on Tang San's otherworldly throwing skills and Oscar's sacrificial block.

Tang San received the crystal blue shards in his glowing white palms, then more Swords flew out, tipped with crystal blue, and the fight ended after that.

Uncle led us back to the hotel with no one really talking, and we ate dinner in silence. That situation we faced wasn't anywhere near defeat, but to have our back row attacked like that sure was an eye opener. If I had my full strength, then it wouldn't have been a problem—but I couldn't fight like that, not yet at least.

"I'm sorry," I said.

All eyes went to me, and it was uncle who spoke up.

"That wasn't your fault," he said.

Nods went around the table.

"You can't be good at everything, little Jin," said teacher Zhao, ruffling my hair. "And besides, Rongrong still had her own trump card, she would've been hurt, yes, but your own contribution would still help no matter what."

Rongrong smiled my way and said, "You worry too much."

Xiao Wu only looked at me slyly. "He does do that a lot," she said. "But only for you." She winked Rongrong's way.

"That felt a lot like genuine danger though," I said.

"And you were willing to sacrifice life and limb to protect her anyway," Xiao Wu finished for me.

Boss Dai smiled in a cheeky way that didn't suit his rugged looks, and Tang San nodded in approval with Zhuqing. Oscar and Hongjun though only sighed together before shaking hands with firm grips.

"Brothers," Hongjun said.

"Brothers," Oscar echoed.

"Little Jin," uncle said, "trust in your team."

I met Oscar's eyes and he nodded back with a resolute smile. "I'll protect you and Rongrong both, what sort of big brother would I be otherwise?"

After that, the dinner became a lot livelier and our night ended on a positive note. And early that morning, I went through the markets to get myself a treat with some shopping. All this constant activity was getting to me and I needed to unwind. I was steadily building up my goods for trading later on, and the few profits I struck myself here were still more satisfying than winning from the betting. The money was bigger there, but there was a different satisfaction in getting a good deal.

I traded for some more ores since Tang San always had something going on during his daily visits to the forge, and some herbs I could identify from uncle's medicinal baths during those hellish boot camp days. I also picked up some sweet buns for the girls to enjoy later and some quality meat I can barbecue later for dinner with everyone.

As I was doing my usual rounds, a peddler new in town caught my eye. On his cart was laid out a bunch of random knick-knacks. but what caught my eye was an all too familiar black pearl. I snatched it up as fast as I could and injected spirit power into it—and lo and behold, it warmed in response.

"How much mister?" If this was anything like I got before, then surely the price was worth it.

"Two gold," he said.

Sure, why not. "Any chance you have more?"

"Just that one."

"It's really pretty," I said, turning the pearl over and about. If I could just get to the source… "Where'd you get it?"

"From a dealer of ores," he said with a shrug.

That didn't make sense one bit, and my finding this was too much of a coincidence. But it's not as if I'd encountered it before as well in my time trading everywhere else. Luck perhaps? Still, he didn't look anything outside of normal, so I doubt I'd get anything more from him.

I checked out his other wares and found nothing else that responded to spirit power so I paid my dues and left, and after making my way towards the outskirts of town where there wasn't as many people, I touched the pearl to my ring and it absorbed it just like before. As expected, its capacity grew another meter on all sides, bringing my total capacity to a small barn's worth instead of just a few moving trucks.

Not one to say no to good fortune, I returned then to the hotel and got ready for the next round of fights.

The next few days weren't as eventful since everyone else kept winning their pair fights, though only Tang San kept his one-on-one record clean. We'd already been here for a month, though only half if we're only considering within the scoring periods.

After Oscar revealed his spider legs, he'd been using them every match now and without boss Dai having to worry as much, he could completely focus on beating everyone else silly. Rongrong and Zhuqing together on the other hand were oppressing everyone they met, and not even those pairs with spirit masters at the thirty-ninth rank could compete with them. The two together were just too scary with the combined forty percent boosts on strength, speed, and spirit power, plus another fifteen percent for the latter, all of which worked well with Zhuqing's fighting style.

Tang San and Xiao Wu though didn't even need the auxiliary support, and just kept plowing straight through.

For the team fights however, that was when me and Hongjun got to shine the most. With Rongrong and Oscar's synergistic boost, everyone could perform at more than their best, but my Domain and Hongjun's flames burned at their brightest. Under my enhanced debuffs and Hongjun's constant bombardment, the last time anyone really gave us any problems was the Mad Battle team from that last-ditch attack by their Spear user, but barring him, no one really stood a chance anymore.

This also meant betting on our team had finally stopped being profitable.

After our team won thirty fights in a row—bringing everyone well and above the minimum required points for the Silver Fighter badges—uncle told us we'd have a special fight in two days care of the Spirit Arena itself.

"The arena's manager has come to us with a request," uncle said. "Due to a certain team, the Spirit Arena group has suffered some heavy losses with their income, and as such, I agreed to have you fight against them in their stead."

We all nodded. Uncle wouldn't really put us through something we couldn't handle, so him announcing this now was just like him telling us to go climb a mountain or something.

"This Emperor team is Silver Ranked as a team," continued uncle, "meaning their cooperation must be good enough for them to reach it while they are all still Spirit Elders."

To be fair, we'd also already reached that level after twenty straight wins. It just wasn't official yet since points were calculated at the end of the month.

"However, your hardships do not end there," uncle added. "The Emperor team only has seven members, meaning you must leave one person out for this fight."

Yeah, that would be a problem alright.

"Ultimately," uncle said, "there will come a time when all eight of you cannot be complete for any number of reasons, and sometimes, these situations as well will be the most difficult. Little San, little Jin, I forbid you both from using any of your weapons in this battle, but just this once, I will permit little Jin to use his hammer."

I raised an eyebrow his way, and everyone else seemed to have the same question in mind.

"Worry not," he said, "I've already arranged for such matters. For this, Spirit Arena has sworn themselves to secrecy for any happenings within the fight, and have given us an advance of ten-thousand gold coins as a trust. Also, the audience for this fight will only be those high-ranking nobles much too embroiled in their own petty fights to be loyal enough to Spirit Hall."

"Understood," I said.

"Little San," uncle said, "I leave you in charge for strategy."

We all gathered round Tang San, and even if boss Dai was the captain as the eldest, even he deferred to Tang San's directions in battle.

"Yes, teacher," Tang San said.

After that, uncle passed us the official record of the Emperor team with the Spirit Arena group.

All of them in the team had ideal spirit ring configurations, and their captain was Yu Tianheng with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon spirit as a thirty-ninth rank battle system. The vice-captain was a lady named Dugu Yan with the Jade Phosphor Serpent spirit, and was a thirty-eighth rank control system, then two defensive system masters named Shi Mò and Shi Mó, both with Black Tortoise spirits and at thirty-eighth and thirty-seventh rank respectively. They then had two agility system masters both at thirty-sixth rank, Yu Feng with the Wind Chime Bird spirit, and Osler with the Ghost Leopard spirit, and last but not least was their auxiliary system Xie Lingling with the Nine Heart Flowering Apple spirit at thirty-fifth rank.

When we finished reading uncle spoke again, "Of these seven you must be most wary of three, the captain, the vice-captain, and their auxiliary master. Little Jin and Rongrong, I believe you two already know why I told you to be wary of the Tyrant Dragon?"

We nodded.

"And for this Jade Phosphor serpent," he continued, "I believe she should have some relation with that Jade Phosphor Douluo."

Dean Flender and Mubai both swallowed hard, and uncle nodded to them with a grim expression.

"I understand," boss Dai said.

"For this Nine Heart Flowering Apple, from what I know it's ability is singularly focused on healing, and how much can be restored is dependent on the spirit master wielding it. However, be it poison or disease, this spirit is able to dispel them all."

Rongrong nodded. "And what's more," she said. "My father has told me of this spirit as well, and that its true power lies in how little spirit power it uses relative to its effect. I believe taking her out should be our first priority."

At that uncle raised his hand, "I know I said to be wary of these three, but you also shouldn't forget about the Shi brothers. Their Black Tortoise spirit is just as potent as the Tyrant Dragon. Only, instead of attack, their cultivation focuses on overwhelming defense."

"This is a well thought out combination then," Tang San said. "With the Tyrant Dragon leading the charge, followed with what I assume to be a poison control system?" Uncle nodded. "Then surely, her abilities will be an area of effect style. After that would be the defense of the two brothers from both flanks, and the ground and air support of their two agility masters, and last would be the healing, only the addition of a Seven Treasure spirit would truly make their combination perfect."

Rongrong frowned. "Yes, I do believe that is the case as well."

Everyone had serious looks on, and I had to speak up. "Their team seems like it's well suited for a long-protracted fight, but they don't seem to have any long-range attacks or any methods to strengthen themselves with."

Tang San nodded. "Their formation is good, but it's not perfect. We still don't know their abilities, but I believe their biggest lack would also be this capability to fight at mid-range like we do, and if they have defenses, then we only need to overwhelm them with overbearing attacks. Boss Dai, Zhuqing, how well confident are you with executing your spirit fusion ability?"

The two looked at each other before boss Dai answered, "We have seventy percent confidence with perfectly executing it."

Zhuqing nodded as well. Over these last few months, I've noticed that though she acts cold towards boss Dai, she never physically lashed out at him nor had she rejected him outright. Of course, him stopping his nightly activities—at least from what I heard with Hongjun—seems to have contributed to that, and it had even begun a week before the five of us showed up. Almost as if he was forewarned of her coming. But then again, these two having more to themselves wouldn't really be all that surprising anymore.

"All spirit bones are allowed as well," uncle said. "Hongjun and little San, feel free to use your bones should the need arise."

The two nodded, and we all agreed on who'll stay back. After much debate, it was decided Xiao Wu will be the one to stay back. Her Soft Skill was strong against most opponents, but against a major unknown, her abilities were instead a major risk on our side. Zhuqing's life stealing ability would help greatly with her staying power, and with Mubai there, their ability to release a spirit fusion would be indispensable.

Me, Rongrong, and Oscar together were a given with our synergy with my Domain, and Hongjun and Tang San were too strong to leave out. Xiao Wu pouted all the way, but a promise from Tang San to take her out shopping on my expense placated her enough to let us go to the arena.

Flender then signaled me that all bets were against us, with odds at a too absurd eight to one. The only other time we got them this good was during our first fight as a team, and even then we couldn't risk the capital.

As we stepped into that stage, there was none of the usual flair, and neither were there any people in the audience. Instead, cold crystal walls surrounded us, with each facet corresponding to a room. This was a more private arena for the high rollers, such that even after betting a total of thirty-five thousand gold, the odds still hadn't moved.

Uncle, Flender, and teacher Zhao stood behind us with Xiao Wu and the rest of the teachers, but only one person stood behind the Emperor team's side.

Seven people from opposite sides of the ring stepped up, and from what I could tell, those guys in the emperor team were all older than us. But then again, almost everyone was.

"Did they actually send us a child?" asked the red-haired lady. There were only two women on their team, and given that the other person looked rather timid with that lace mask of hers, I'm willing to bet this one was that Dugu Yan.

"Don't underestimate them," said the guy in the long black robes. He had black hair and piercing blue eyes, the characteristic hereditary trait of the main line descendants of their clan. I may possibly be facing the heir of the Tyrant Dragon sect.

"Really? But these guys don't even look like they could put up a fight?" said a blonde in a short-sleeved tunic and shorts.

None from our side really bothered with replying. It was better to win with humility than to have our asses handed to us after bragging. At least this way, in case we lost, we'd at least save some face

"There's only two possibilities from here," said a guy in grey robes, "these are just trash they sent out to stall for time, or this is their solution."

At least two people were difficult to deal with, and those last three in their team were unreadable.

The lights then went out, and a spotlight illuminated a section of the high ceiling—revealing a shimmering pair of wings attached to a lady with three yellow spirit rings floating behind her.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen," came a velvety smooth voice, "our Suotuo Great Spirit Arena proudly presents to you the main event of this night!"

More spotlights opened, one trained on us, the other on the Emperor team.

"Shrek's Eight Devils versus Emperor Team! A one night only event filled with intrigue is definitely one to remember."

What the hell did uncle tell them to get _that_ sort of intro?

"Without further ado, both teams, prepare!"

Calmly, forty-two spirit rings floated up, our side in a three-one-three formation, with Tang San, Mubai, and Zhuqing at the front, Hongjun in the middle, and us three at the back, while the Emperor team were in a three-two-two. As we did, the people on the other side couldn't help but stare.

"Of course, they couldn't be normal," said Black, his right arm enlarging into a scaled and spiked blue. It was the first stage of the dragon transformation all Tyrant Dragon wielders experienced, so this was surely Yu Tianheng.

The two with him in front then threw their shirts away, revealing black turtle shells on their backs and fronts together with steeled muscles, the Shi brothers.

"That must be some trick," said Red all the way from the rear, whose legs had now fused into a long and scaled green tail as she stood with swaying motions, Dugu Yan. Beside her was Xie Lingling who was holding onto an ornate flower.

"But none of his rings are shining, so it can't be," said Grey in the middle, who grew two pointed ears as the tips of his fingers glinted with silvery tips, Osler.

"We'll just have to find out later," said Yu Feng next to him, whose arms had now turned into a pair of brown wings.

The lady announcer then flew to the middle of the stage. "The fight will only stop after all combatants from one side have either: forfeited, been disqualified, or been incapacitated. Killing is also forbidden, is that clear?"

No one really answered since that was already a given.

"Now," she said, "before we proceed with the fight, we will first present the combatants for each side!"

Well that's new.

"First, as the reigning champions, we have the Emperor team…"

She finished listing off what we already knew of the other side, and she then began with ours.

"Shrek's Eight Devils, White Tiger, Evil Eyes White Tiger spirit, rank thirty-eight battle spirit master; Thousand Hands, Blue Silver Grass spirit, rank thirty-seven control spirit master."

At that the four from the Emperor team did a double-take.

"Seven Treasure Princess, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda spirit, rank thirty-one auxiliary system spirit master; Hell Civet, Hell Civet spirit, rank thirty-two agility system spirit master; Sausage Monopoly, Sausage spirit, rank thirty-two auxiliary system spirit master; and…"

All lights dimmed, and a single spotlight shone on me.

"Amber King, Amber Crown and Clear Sky Hammer spirits, rank thirty-five battle and control spirit master!"

The lights opened up, and all eyes from the Emperor team fell on me.

"Oh," I said, summoning my Hammer, "that makes it easier then."


	27. Chapter 27

The lights shifted again, this time illuminating the entire space. It made our spirit rings shine out even more with the dazzling angles, though the glitters coming from the ceiling might have something to do with that. Beside me were Rongrong and Oscar standing close to each other and focused on our opponents, they were to keep as far away as possible from the fighting using Oscar's spider legs while Hongjun and I covered them. But with this new revelation, things were bound to change.

This was our first time fighting a Silver ranked team, and anything could go wrong. Everyone else we'd fought before was on the same Iron or higher by a grade Copper rank, and from what I'd seen before on the betting stands, every other silver team at least had five or more members above the forty-fifth rank, which meant these guys were to some extent comparable to those sorts of teams.

Granted, we were also on the same general level.

As I felt the familiar weight of my Hammer, Tianheng scowled my way while the rest of his team went on guard. Dugu Yan stepped in front of Xie Lingling, while Shi Mo and Shi Mu enclosed Tianheng from either side, hiding Yu Feng and Osler behind them. With a full fifty meters on of length, width, and height of space there was a lot of ground to cover—and even more air—and not enough people to keep everything nice and tight. With luck, Yu Feng wouldn't have anything too smart of an ability on his side.

"Careful," Tang San said.

Their tightened-up formation looked closer to a pillar now than their earlier inverted triangle.

Everyone nodded.

A subtle tug pulled on my waist, and I met Tang San's eyes. He pursed his lips then gestured me over, and I moved up to the front. That announcer lady only watched the changes in our formations as Tang San walked to the back of the team.

"I believe teacher has a plan," he whispered as we passed each other.

"Understood," I said, taking my place beside Mubai.

With my means of attack returned to normal, I was better off serving as a front liner than a rear debuffer. My spirit power was more cost-effective when invested into keeping the attackers at bay than simply weakened, since I had the possibility to do both myself anyway. Oscar and Rongrong also shifted forward up to the middle while Hongjun moved back together with Tang San.

With my Crown already on, I could see better now what they all looked like up front. Puzzled looks colored our opponents' faces, but none dared to speak.

Shi Mo and Shi Mu were both nearly twice my size, both in terms of height and bulk, with clean shaven bald heads. Their faces also looked the same, and only their differently colored robes set them apart: Mo with black, and Mu with grey. As expected, Tianheng behind them was in the pristine blue of the Tyrant Dragon clan. He, however, looked like a guy you'd see anywhere, modest build and height, not too handsome, though the long scar from his left eyebrow down to his cheek made him iconic enough.

Yu Feng and Osler behind them were two blonde slender youths, with the former's bright eyes and girlish looks somewhat reminiscent of his pixie-like spirit, and the latter's lazy gaze was exactly like that of a cat's he was also the bigger of the two in terms of physique and height.

We were too far to say anything to each other, but even from here it didn't take a genius to know Tianheng was sizing me up.

Further back were Dugu Yan and Xie Lingling. Yan kept her figure with the snake lower body, her green robes swaying together with her bright red hair. She seemed a bit shorter after her transformation, but the sharp look in her eyes could rival that of Xiao Wu looking at her carrot cakes—or anyone who insulted Tang San's honor. Xie Lingling though was covered from head to toe in black lace besides her purple hair which glistened in the light and so didn't look as menacing, but she wasn't any less eye catching.

When we finished rearranging ourselves, there was me and Mubai together at the front, then Rongrong, Oscar, and Zhuqing in the middle, and Tang San and Hongjun just a step behind them. The front was meant to breakthrough and receive: Mubai was the anvil, and I was the Hammer, then behind us were scouting and support protected as much as possible, with ranged firepower closest to them and suppressing whatever they saw fit.

With Xiao Wu, this formation would've finally seen the light of day at its full might, but we had to make due.

"Are both sides done with their changes?" the announcer lady said.

"The Emperor team is ready," Tianheng said with a dismissive wave.

"So are we," Tang San said with a nod.

The lady nodded back, and floated higher up the ring as all eyes followed her.

When she stopped ascending, she raised one hand up high as I tightened my grip on my spirit, and met Tianheng's eyes. Rank thirty-nine was a few ways to go from thirty-five, and with a spirit just as strong, that difference was as wide as it got. Still, to face someone from the Tyrant Dragon clan, it was an honor.

"Begin!" the lady said, flying away as Tianheng's yellow ring shone.

He thrust his dragon arm forward and three roaring claws of lightning barreled forward through the air. The guy wasted no time, coming in all business-like, simple and straightforward. Not a bad first impression for the first ever member of the Tyrant Dragon clan I'd ever met.

I expanded Domain into a corridor of golden light, and activated Shock at the very edge of the shell just as the lightning entered my space—deflecting the tendrils of blazing blue into the ground.

 _Bang!_

A grand explosion rocked the ring and from the dust came Tianheng running with Shi Mo and Shi Mu like two bulldozers in front of him, the latter two with their yellow rings flaring. That trick worked last time with the Boiling Storm team, which meant that ability of Tianheng's didn't alter the nature of electricity too much.

Blurs of black flew from the sides of my vision, and I swung my Hammer once to build up momentum.

"Three seconds!" Tang San said, as I recovered into a second swing. Meanwhile, Yu Feng and Osler from the back ranks furiously swatted away Tang San's Needles away from Lingling and Dugu Yan

We were at our weakest while waiting for Rongrong and Oscar to finish their combo, but with both my spirits out, we at least had a better chance of making up for that lull. I reached the pinnacle of the third swing as red misty arrows shot out of Dugu Yan together with her yellow ring, encircling Yu Feng and Osler.

Tianheng scowled as he shot another three claws of lightning at us, and again I deflected them with Shock as I swung into the fourth, black light gathering around my spirit.

"Two seconds," Tang San said, and boss Dai now had to give me a wider berth due to the spirit power fluctuations I was releasing, at the same time, Zhuqing and Hongjun stepped closer, sticking to us front-liners like our shadows.

That red mist from Dugu Yan then reached Tianheng and company, and they breathed it in, their bodies glowing bright red for a moment before the light faded into a pinkish radiance.

Then, Tianheng smirked, and released his yellow ring, this time shooting out five tendrils of lightning flying with wild trajectories as Shi Mo and Shi Mu together let out whistling howls, their spirit power pressures increasing in breadth.

I expanded Shock in time to reach the lightning bolts, but their erratic zig-zagging made them skirt my Domain in ways that defied the laws of physics—like that's anything new. I finished the sixth and seventh swings, and Mubai and Zhuqing now had to keep away from me by a meter and a half as the former shot down the lightning strikes with Light Waves together with Hongjun's Fire Wire.

Tianheng with the Shi brothers shortened the distance further into close-range at around five meters with one more dash as Zhuqing erupted from our right flank and Hongjun let out a sweeping pass of Fire Wire. The brothers' backs glowed as their turtle shells shifted to the right arm for Mo and the left for Mu, while Tianheng let out a ferocious roar as he swung his dragon arm with a wide arc to dispel Hongjun's flames with force.

Replacing Shock with Devour, I pushed my Domain outward to meet them as Mubai's purple ring shone, his body expanding to meet the Shi brothers pound for pound.

Tang San kept the pressure up with Needles flying left and right, with the occasional one finding its way to some blind spot on either of the three, while Hongjun kept all of them a step away with Fire Wire, the purple flames kept sticking to the brothers' shields, creating enough of an opening for boss Dai to clash with Tianheng and for me to redirect my next attack.

Tianheng slugged boss Dai with a downward crash while the latter answered with a wide slash, sparks flying as the two's limbs met. Then boss Dai suddenly moved backward with a sharp jerk, and Tianheng was left to follow-through on empty air with an awkward over extension.

I followed up with the eighth swing as Hongjun kept Shi Mo busy with a Phoenix Burst to the face while Shi Mu was thrown off his groove with a timely Cleave from behind by Zhuqing.

"Boost!" Tang San said, as gold and yellow lights entwined in my vision.

Power condensed in my entire body as a rising tension burst out, and I pulled hard with Devour as my Hammer approached Tianheng with a step forward, black and gold light erupting from every fiber of me.

But a quick save from Shi Mu stopped my attack cold, with him only falling back two hops before he recovered.

My Hammer rang with the hit, but I was fine nonetheless. I spun into the ninth aiming for the person in front of me, but Shi Mo stepped in next, my Hammer head beating him back three hops back as boss Dai lunged forward with his claws out, both of us bathed in brilliant light.

Shi Mo stepped into my attack, right for right, and Shi Mu went for boss Dai while Tianheng's two yellow rings shone, crackling lightning surrounding his entire person as it did.

 _Crack!_

Shield met Hammer again and Shi Mo was pushed back hard, with him falling to his butt a good roll away, but before boss Dai's claws could clash with Mu's shell, boss Dai jerked backwards in the air again, leaving Mu to shove empty space and into a face full of Phoenix Burst.

A hundred spears of lightning then exploded from Tianheng and rained down, but Shock gave the four of us enough time to dodge, with Fire Wire and Light Waves to clear the front, and for Zhuqing to sneak a Cleave for Tianheng that was blocked by Shi Mu with a spin.

Three people suppressing four was huge, a testament to the rank the Emperor team had obtained for themselves.

I recovered into the tenth swing aiming for Mu—and activated Honored Ant Mantle with the motion as a dense layer of black covered my entire person and my Hammer grew to twice its size from the spirit power pouring into it.

The ability I got from the queen doubled my body's strength the same way Rongrong's Red Light empowered us in a sort of kinetic force multiplying manner instead of an actual reinforcement. It was the disadvantage of us tool spirit masters compared to beast spirits, but it also meant we had higher potential for attack since we weren't putting our own bodies on the line.

Mu bravely met my Hammer as Phoenix Fire Wire and White Tiger Light Waves grappled for control against Tianheng's ongoing onslaught of lightning showers, explosions ringing left and right then—

 _BAM!_

Shi Mu was thrown off his feet high into the air and flipped twice before landing on the ground writing. Zhuqing didn't miss her opportunity to press the attack and dove in with a Hell Stab but her target rolled along the ground back to the protection of his brother who blocked her nails just in time as boss Dai grappled with Tianheng who was covered in whirls of lightning.

Shi Mo quickly charged forward with his purple ring shining as a blue glow continuously circled around his person.

"Push!" Tang San said.

Hitting Shi Mo and Shi Mu were like trying to juggle two gigantic boulders together with a just as gigantic gold club. They gave way to overwhelming force but stayed their resilience, and as I swung into the eleventh, nausea pushed its way up my mouth from the sudden drop in spirit power.

The biggest disadvantage to getting boosted by Rongrong's Yellow Light and Queen's Guard abilities was she only consumed her spirit power to pull more out of her target, but the cost of powering abilities was still shouldered by the target. Mantle consumed a whopping ten percent spirit power for every second I kept it on, and with the seventy-five percent boost total in spirit power, my cost was also raised to a total of seventeen percent give or take.

The time limit then played in because the attribute increase her sprit provided would also scale up with the consumption of the abilities she boosted, and as the only one in charge of six—five for now—the costs racked up fast and sustained hard.

Shi Mu took his brother's place with a quick dash, and everyone else melted away in my vision. Here, in this moment, was only me and my target.

My Hammer found Shi Mo with his shield now larger than he and glowing two shades of purple and blue together his own earthen tone, and where before I hit a loose but hard boulder, this time I struck a mighty oak deeply rooted in place. The wall in front of me crashed hard into the ground as Shi Mo's body was indented into the ground a good inch or two.

I was thrown back hard as spirit power lashed back into me and throwing my guts into disarray like that time with the soldier ant—but at least this guy didn't spit out acid.

He wasn't any worse for wear however since the guy spat out just as much blood as I did.

The Disorder Splitting Wind method rose in terms of compounding force for every nine swings, and at the eleventh this was equivalent to a rank exceeding attack, giving it the same force I'd be able to output if I were at the fortieth rank give or take. This was the main selling point of our spirit we advertised to the rest of the world, but our true strength lied with our clan's Nine Absolutes, self-created abilities much like the Seven Treasure clan's Heart Separation Control or the Tyrant Dragon clan's Lightning Dragon Roar—which thankfully couldn't be used anywhere below the seventieth rank, else this wouldn't even be a match.

A sharp tug then pulled me from the waist making me draw an arc as I drew along the air, and I landed in someone's arms as I fought off the urge to puke. I looked back at the action, and saw Shi Mo bleeding from the nose and ears and staying behind his brother.

"Jin!" Rongrong said, pulling me close.

"I'll live," I said with a wince.

"Stand down!" Tang San said, pushing me back into Rongrong's embrace after I tried moving. He never stopped throwing his Needles and Swords everywhere despite that as a sausage was placed in my mouth.

"Eat," Oscar said, shoving the meat down my throat, and Rongrong shook her head and gazed back at the rest of the team, her eyes burning with a fury I'd never known before.

Her gold light left me, and moved onto boss Dai, brilliant yellow still bathing everyone else besides the three of us, then Red Light filled my vision as Rongrong's yellow ring shone together with her purple, and this time Tang San was the next to move forward—with his wings bared in full, taking to the air with a graceful trail of shimmering blue spirit power.

"Keep eating, we still need your Domain," Tang San said, all three spirit rings flared behind him. He then extended a hand towards Oscar who passed him a batch of sausages which Tang San threw at Hongjun and Zhuqing, eating the last one for himself.

Shi Mo was thrown back from boss Dai's shove, and in came Tang San with a flurry of Swords held between his fingertips like a ninja and slashing about with graceful circles. He'd stopped his throwing and instead met Tianheng head on, leaving Osler and Yu Feng to break free of their stalemate, and the latter two wasted no time with charging for the three of us in the back row.

Hongjun then moved forward while Zhuqing to our right flank to intercept Osler.

Bile rose and I coughed away a mouth full of blood and meat bits, and Oscar shoved another sausage down my throat. Our formation was in disarray from that unexpected counter from Shi Mo, and now we had Hongjun, Tang San, and boss Dai fending off the three all while under the light of Devour, and I restored what spirit power I could to mitigate the damage.

Yu Feng flew in but was kept at bay by Hongjun's Fire Wire, and Zhuqing kept Osler busy with a running chase.

"Change!" Tang San shouted, and he flew towards Yu Feng instead as the golden glow moved from boss Dai to Hongjun, after which Burst Fire roared with a huge explosion towards the Shi brothers and Tianheng.

With a quick flurry of slashes and a timely bind, Yu Feng was tied up a second later and deposited to in front of me.

"You know what to do," Tang San said as he swooped in.

A quick stab of Oscar's spider legs then stopped the guy's struggling completely. Tang San then flew back into the fray to keep Tianheng busy while boss Dai kept the Shi brothers from blocking with Hongjun's help, the golden glow now back to him. All this while, a purple mist started creeping from Dugu Yan together with her purple ring, and judging from how Osler avoided the paths where that mist lingered, it was most likely a harming poison versus those earlier red and blue mists.

"Go," Oscar said, shoving Yu Feng to me.

I set a hand on the poor guy and used Devour from point blank while making sure to keep Oscar's poison at bay while doing so. Yu Feng dying would make me lose my battery, as well as earn the ire of the opposing team, the former was unacceptable while the latter would be a total pain. No need to make enemies out of everyone.

"Bastards!" Tianheng said, as his entire person lit up in furious blue.

A lightning storm broke out with Tianheng at its eye, and I expanded Shock outward just in time to deflect most of the lightning away, using the spirit power I'd taken from Yu Feng, as well as what I could from his own attacks. Every now and then Oscar would pull me and Rongrong away from a too close lightning strike, and every now and then Tang San would pull someone's leg out from under them.

I focused on recovering as the fight took on a more serious air, with Tang San sneaking a Needle here and there to attack Dugu Yan and Lingling who were only able to defend themselves thanks to that purple mist letting them know where the attacks were coming from.

Tianheng and the Shi brothers kept up their dance with boss Dai, Tang San, and Hongjun, while Zhuqing kept Osler busy. Thanks to Tang San's added dimension of flight, his battlefield presence became even more prominent with how his attacks would come from almost anywhere. Blue lightning and purple fire would trace through the through the air in alternating patterns.

Just then, Shi Mo shoved Hongjun away long enough for Tianheng to catch him with a lightning claw, but Shi Mu was thrown into the way by boss Dai—whose purple ring shone, deflecting the lightning strikes away from him and towards the three of us at the back instead. A timely application of Shock deflected the lightning again.

But Shi Mo also didn't expect Hongjun to break out with a left punch shining with a brilliant earthen tone—caught off-guard, the guy's ribs were hit dead on, and he had to be pulled back by Tianheng to avoid the flash of Blue Silver Grass Tang San extended.

To think Mo would have a counter while Mu had a reflect, this was a lot more complicated than it seemed, we also hadn't seen what Tianheng's purple ring did, and for him to save it this long.

Meanwhile, the rest of the ring kept shrinking as more purple mist encroached from the Emperor team's sides. Right now, trying to Devour Dugu Yan's poison technique would overextend me compared to just draining Yu Feng dry, and with one for one down, throwing him out now would surely be an advantage later. Of course, there's also taking the guy hostage…

"Progress?" Oscar asked, throwing an Eight-link Sausage over to Tang San who swooped in.

I settled the energy in my stomach and felt for anything wrong, and a sharp pain issued from my right side. "I'll be fine," I said, "not anytime soon at least, but I'll be able to run."

"Good enough," Oscar said, picking Yu Feng up as he stood with his full height together with his spider legs. "We need to support the others."

"Right," I said, and Rongrong nodded.

"Let's go," she said, pulling me up.

We slowly made our way to the front as I kept my hold on my battery, with Rongrong beside me buffing everyone, and Oscar keeping my and her spirit power consumption at a minimal. When my spirit power reached a more comfortable forty percent, I turned Corrode on over Tianheng and the Shi brothers, and started burning away the spirit power of their abilities together with their bodies.

The occasional pillar of lightning would find its way toward us but Shock would deflect them as they pass, and bring me an extra jolt of spirit power too.

As the fighting area would shrink, so too did the effective range of my Crown grow—but Dugu Yan wouldn't normally do this without a reason.

Corrode was doing its part, and the Shi brothers and Tianheng weren't looking as hot anymore, but Osler kept up his pressure to no avail with Zhuqing matching him blow for blow with her life stealing Cleaves. However, the ring had finally shrunk to just within my Domain, and by then, a small corridor in the poison mists opened and the four fighters of the Emperor team all retreated behind Dugu Yan's poison, with Lingling's purple light guiding them through.

"Regroup," Tang San said, pulling everyone together with him to join us nearest the edge of the ring.


	28. Chapter 28

AN: Not gonna lie, I've been a lazy ass all this time with putting off continuing any of my stories and you guys got me going again. Thank you, everyone.

#

Our team closed ranks around Oscar, Rongrong, and I, with me in the center maintaining Corrode. My third ability was destroying the poison as it touched my light, and even now I could feel a push coming in from all directions—a rather strange sensation—but that was something good if anything. Spirit force or not, the poison couldn't get through or destroy my Domain.

The poison around us had an alien energy with it that passed through the filtering of Devour, and it was better to be safe than sorry. Absorbing unknown energies carried with it a risk that could overwhelm my body, and I needed to be in this fight for as long as possible.

Oscar passed me another sausage after I finished the last one, and Rongrong had already shifted her Boost to only me. The effect of Oscar's third ring only passed once the ability it was used with had stopped, so for single use abilities, they were just that, power-ups, but for channeled abilities like mine and Rongrong we could keep the upgrade up indefinitely.

"Will you be alright?" Tang San asked me. A tendril of Blue Silver Grass extended from his hand and reached for outside my light.

Its veins blackened on contact with the purple mists.

I compressed my Domain to as small as possible to conserve Spirit Power.

Whether Dugu Yan could sense whatever was within her poison or not was a moot point if my ability failed now. The cover of purple was too thick to see through, and call it luck no one else had attacked us during the lull so far.

"I should be good for another five minutes," I said, "but that's as long as I could maintain it. Any more than that and I might end up killing this guy." Yu Feng's struggles were getting weaker and weaker, his eyes had gotten darker around the edges too. People could only provide so much spirit power until they started leaking life force, and for someone at the thirtieth rank, that was quite a bit.

But we were only here to compete for sport, not kill. It was during times like these when I'm reminded just how out of the norm it was to be able to freely replenish myself.

Hongjun stepped forward and breathed out a puff of flame, but his fire only made the inky purple shy back.

"I'm not sure I can burn this," he said.

Time was against our team, with my dwindling spirit power and Rongrong's eventual limit. But for Tianheng, they should be able to manage assuming Dugu Yan didn't need to expend Spirit Power to maintain this poison cloud.

"No one touch the poison," Tang San said, "I'll take care of it." He smiled something reassuring, and I could just feel the wave of comfort wash over the others.

Boss Dai was a little worse for wear with his mask and clothes nicked and charred in places, while Zhuqing and Hongjun were more frazzled and shaken. Oscar's robes were torn in places because of his spiderlegs, and Rongrong was the only one untouched. Tang San was still his clean and pristine self, save for a few choice cuts on his clothes, and I was the only one covered in blood—mostly from me.

I'm starting to notice the trend, all things considered.

 _Crack!_

Another line of lightning barreled forward, and a timely Light Wave from boss Dai saved our butts.

"We should hurry up," I said.

Another flash of lightning came and we all dodged as one to the left while a tendril of Shock and Devour guided the bolt further away from us. For Tianheng to keep sniping us like this meant Dugu Yan could sense things within the mist. In a sense, she was sort of like me then.

Tang San produced two sacks from his storage belt. "Hongjun," he said, "use your fire when I tell you to."

Hongjun nodded.

"And little Jin, lend me your hammer after I give the signal."

My what now? "Cousin, err, did I hear that right?"

If before his smile was a refreshing wind, this one now was like a lick of flames. "It would be prudent to make as good an impression as possible, yes?"

I frowned. But alright. It's not like there was a big taboo with lending other people a part of your soul anyway, it's just it wasn't exactly something I was too comfortable with doing. "What, you're gonna throw it at someone?"

Tang San laughed.

"You owe me for this." I sighed and started gathering what spirit power I could spare for my Hammer.

Tang San threw the bags out into the purple mists then a handful of Swords outward. The unassuming burlap sacks cut through the poison and were getting signed, before they exploded in mid-air after hitting each other.

The bags scattered a fine mist that glistened against the stadium's lights together with a cloud of fine white powder.

"Hongjun," Tang San said.

A stream of flames then ignited the cloud and produced another explosion—that scattered the purple mist surrounding us.

Tang San then flew out of my Domain's light and straight towards the now revealed emperor team that was by the ring's leftmost edge, and a Dugu Yan that had fallen to her knees just now.

The Shi brothers, as battered as they were, faithfully stepped forth to meet Tang San while Tianheng shot more lightning our way. I then took the chance to completely enclose their group with Corrode while squeezing everything I could from Yu Feng.

"Jin!" Tang San extended his hand back together with a strand of Grass that reached towards me.

I summoned my Hammer and threw it towards him.

Hongjun and Boss Dai sent ranged attacks towards the other members of the emperor team while Zhuqing intercepted Osler who had rounded off to our left flank.

Nobody expected Tang San to suddenly break Dugu Yan's technique, and for her to be downed means she also maintained a connection with her poison. It was a good thing then that I didn't take too much of it in.

The flower in Lingling's hand started shining on Dugu Yan, at the same time, Tang San had finally gripped my hammer.

Shi Mo and Shi Mu blocked his way forward.

And Tang San threw my Hammer to the side.

"What the hell?! You missed!" I couldn't help but shout.

And the bombardment of either side with lightning, fire, and light lulled for a moment—before a flash of a handful of Swords stopped the turtle brothers from advancing further.

Then Lingling got thrown out of the ring from the right—after my hammer hit her in the ribs from the side.

Dugu Yan's eyes went wide.

And only then did it register that Tang San made my hammer curve like a fucking boomerang from god knows how. I don't even have enough energy to spare to just… fuck. Fuck this!

I retracted my hammer after I felt it hit the ground.

That's when all hell broke loose.

"Charge!" Tang San said as he wielded his Swords and became a storm of blades. He slashed with his swords, and rained needles everywhere, and snared the other team's limbs with his bind.

He was a force on his own.

Boss Dai, Zhuqing, and Hongjun gathered towards him while Oscar led me and Rongrong to follow, all the while her boosts all gathered on Tang San—who started pushing back both brothers as he wove in and out of their moves, avoiding their shields.

Tianheng couldn't do anything but charge forward himself.

The rest after that was a battle of attrition with the Emperor team fighting under Corrode and Devour. I'd long thrown away Yu Feng outside the ring after Oscar force fed him a detoxifying sausage since any more and he could've died.

But Shi Mo eventually got done in by Tang San's poison and was promptly thrown over to me to continue my reign of terror.

Minute after grueling minute passed with our front line fighters decking it out with our opponents. Tang San pretty much held the line all on his own and Oscar's constant support made all the difference. That was what decided it, really. Had Lingling stayed in the fight longer, and had the Emperor team chose a blitz instead of a protracted battle from the start, then maybe have lost in terms of sheer burst power since we didn't have any grand attacks that could meet their fire power head on.

But in the face of Oscar's superior carrying capacity, Tang San's ferocity, Rongrong's cheating boosts and my domain, then it was just their luck they played into a battle they weren't equipped for.

When Tianheng finally fell, nothing else was sweeter than the announcer lady's angelic voice singing of our victory.

#

I must have fainted after that since I woke up in a bed with Rongrong sitting on a chair next to me and holding my hand. As cliché as cliché went, it was still nice to wake up like this. Though she was a child and I'm like, pretty old inside. But again, once we both hit twenty or something then it'd be just like one of those old moguls getting it on with their secretaries. Not that I ever reached that point nor did I idolize them.

Yeah, this was a bad train of thought.

Rongrong was fast asleep, and she was already changed to her normal robes. I was too. Someone must've changed out my bloody robes for clean ones.

We were in a small room with no one else besides us. The walls were a drab olive and the sheets were a clean white, all lit by a soft and warm light stone that shone over both. It was, homely. If anything. Someone else might've called it sweet, or romantic. But, that's not really something I'm willing to entertain just yet.

I poked the girl's cheek.

She stirred, then swatted my hand away.

"Rongrong," I said, "I'm awake now."

She stirred some more but was still fast asleep. She must've been pooped out from the fighting. I mean, she did pretty much keep using up her boosts all throughout the fight. And it was only thanks to Oscar how we somehow made it through.

That, and Tang San doing some magic shit with making my Hammer fly like a goddamn boomerang and that powder explosion. Speaking of, what the hell was that anyway? I haven't heard of anything doing something like that to poison before, but that's just going with my modern knowledge. Maybe it really was magic?

I checked Interface and found my cultivation had broken through to the Thirty-Sixth. If any, that was at least something good that came out of this shit stain of an experience.

The door opened to Xiao Wu—who smirked before closing the door again.

"Hey!" I whispered out loud.

She put a finger up to her mouth and shushed me before giving one last wink.

Then Tang San poked his head in before she could close the door.

Xiao Wu stuck her tongue out at him.

"Can you walk now, little Jin?" he said.

There wasn't anything in the red from my scans, so I was more or less good to go unless I got shoved into another life or death sort of fight. Which, I dared to hope, wouldn't come again anytime soon. It wasn't like my luck was bad enough to shove me into a crisis every now and then after all.

Except when it comes to bugs.

"I think so," I said.

I pulled off a strand of hair from my head and tickled Rongrong's nose with it.

She yelped and hit me without really trying to and her cheeks were dusted the slightest hint of pink. Just below the indignant glare was a smile.

"You make me worry and this is what I get?" she said.

"It's not in my nature to be too sweet."

"Ge, I believe we should've left them alone a bit longer."

"I would agree," Tang San said, "but teacher needed us all together before telling us the results of our last bout."

I got off the bed and the four of us joined the rest of our group in a large dining hall where Hongjun was the only one eating, while the rest sat by the table.

Rongrong didn't bat an eye at him. "I'm not even going to bother this time."

We joined our team by the table while our teachers sat on the other side of the large round table. Teacher Zhao sat next to the dean, and he next to uncle.

Uncle stood up. "First off, the Great Spirit Arena extends their thanks to us for pulling them out of their difficult situation and even allowing them to rise from their losses together with winning a sizeable purse for us."

I started clapping at the promise of cold hard cash—literally.

Everyone stared at me. I stopped.

Uncle cleared his throat. "The next matter, would be the poor performance you all showed at the beginning."

I straightened up, and the others did so too.

"Jin. You were too eager to show off your spirit after you'd been allowed its use. Had you kept it secret, the Emperor team would've kept wondering whether you truly were of the Clear Sky sect or not."

Grandpas Shan and Lin couldn't have been far off, and that meant whoever saw us there would've been marked for dead had there been some risk. But for uncle to speak like this meant there was none. At least, none he could think of and none my grandpas dared to act against.

"I understand, uncle." He wasn't wrong either. In hindsight, I should've played it off as a joke instead. Our opponents were already underestimating us after all, and I only blew our cover by confirming that our team was indeed the solution the Great Spirit Arena prepared. "I should have played their confusion to our advantage."

He nodded. "Good, at least you understand. That, however, will not change the punishment I have in store for you."

I swallowed hard. Xiao Wu shook her head.

"Look forward to it," uncle said. He turned to Rongrong and Oscar. "You two both did the best out there. Not only were you both focused on your roles, but you both were also proactive with seeking advantages."

"You have both gone beyond your duty as auxiliary spirit masters. Keep it up."

Uncle turned to Mubai. "Why did you and Zhuqing not dare to make use of your fusion?"

Mubai and Zhuqing turned away from each other.

"You both have the possibility to grasp at such a magnificent power and yet you neglect what you have. Perhaps this experience should at least let you know how wide the world is. Yes, you both might not like it but you cannot deny that had you used your strength, your team would not have eaten such a dry victory."

Uncle then turned to Hongjun. "Hongjun, you have the highest potential for fire ranged power in this team. Your phoenix shines best when it is burning bright. Why then were you on the defensive instead of pressing the attack?"

Hongjun nodded.

"If you find yourself scrambling to defend everytime your opponent does something unexpected then you will never be able to bring a surprise of your own out. Instead, attack through your opponents' most decisive moves for they are likely to not expect a counter attack either."

Uncle at least turned to Tang San.

"Little San, I trust you know where you were lacking?"

Tang San stood. "Yes, I believe so, Teacher."

He motioned for him to continue.

"I was trying too hard to control our opponents' moves using my own attacks when I instead should have been controlling our own team's performance to its fullest." He nodded. "Little JIn's unexpected outburst caused me to reevaluate my plans at the last minute instead of staying with what we had all already decided."

Uncle nodded to his words.

"Had we continued with our original formation, we would've been able to better play Jin's revelation as a joke and have our opponents underestimate us, perhaps."

"Good," uncle said. "Now that that's settled, you may all now eat. We still have a meeting to attend to after this so don't take too long."

I wasn't sure what to expect exept something not normal. This whole last fight shenanigan was out of the norm already, what was a few more after?

We all ate dinner in silence, some from ruminating over their shortcomings and figuring out how best to make up for them in the future—maybe. Me though, I was just tired.

#

Maybe I should have expected it, had I been paying more attention to the specialness of what had been happening so far. It was in the details really, like how uncle Xiaogang got the Spirit Arena to agree to keeping my secret—besides the threat of death, or how come we were the ones selected to fight the Emperor team since they could've been the ones to fight at a higher rank instead. Though the latter was due to this place being too far off from any major population centers hence the lack of any bigger names in the sport.

"Qin Ming greets dean Flender," the young man who was apparently the teacher of the Emperor team said with a bow.

"Ahah! You little rascal you!" Teacher Zhao said as he pulled the smart-looking man into a bear hug. The other teachers too joined in with passing him praises and greetings.

"Teacher, it has been too long," Qin Ming said with a softer tone. "Once a student of Shrek, always a student."

"And our school is proud to have nurtured such a talent as well," the dean said. "And for you to have fostered such a formidable team yourself, truly you are worthy of calling yourself an alumnus of our academy."

The principal preened at his own words and Qin Ming simply let him have it all. It was the sort of conscientiousness borne after years of being together through thick and thin—mostly thin if the academy's poor state of finances was anything to go by. Still, Flender must've been doing something right to have gotten someone to reach the sixtieth rank under forty.

"I can trust you've already seen first hand what your juniors were capable of?" the dean said.

Qin Ming smiled wryly. "Indeed I have," he said and turned to me, one eyebrow raised on those perfect pretty boy looks of his. "And I take it you are the next head of the Clear Sky sect?"

I looked over to the principal and uncle Xiaogang. They both nodded back, and Qin Ming was piqued from the exchange.

"I didn't think you'd be so prudent as well to vet first for someone's trustworthiness," he said with an amused tone. "Worry not, little master, I too am keeping some secrets as well."

Yeah sure, but that didn't mean I had to give him mine as well. Still, no answer was already as good as an answer. And the two trusted him, so if he ever went traitor then I could always just get the help of my grandpas in taking care of him—and besides, I have yet to get a taste of the full cultivation of someone above the fortieth rank.

I sighed. "Please excuse my caution, it isn't as easy to share such a burden on my shoulders."

Qin Ming bowed the noble's way. "I understand little master. It honors me that you would dare to trust me with such information."

"You are my senior," I said, "and whom my teachers trust. I can more or less also trust."

Qin Ming smiled. "Shouldn't that be with the the uncertainty?"

"I have a natural distate for good looking guys."

"He's just making sure you won't steal Rongrong away," Xiao Wu said from the side.

First off, ew. Second, just no. I mean sure, I was practically like thirty already over here, but at least I was still physically a kid. Okay, maybe she was one to talk since she was actually like this super old loli granny who totally had the hots for a kid. Perhaps it was the pot finding some company with the kettle… but that didn't matter right now.

"Oh?" Qin Ming said. "An alliance between the Clear Sky sect and the Seven Treasure sect?" He nodded in deep reverence. "A strong pair indeed."

Rongrong looked away from me when I caught her gaze. Dammit, don't play into it!

But Xiao Wu already noticed and was already smiling like a dirty old woman. Which she totally was.

Qin Ming cleared his throat. "Teacher," he said to the dean. "I would like to have my students meet once more with my juniors. Not to spite them, but to only ensure a smooth relationship between our charges."

I didn't like where this was going.

The dean nodded, but uncle didn't seem too thrilled. "Perhaps a small gathering at a fine restaurant may ensure no animosity between them?"

Qin Ming chuckled. "And as the losing side, it is only natural that we would bear the tab."

Flender's cheap ass practically leapt for joy at that. He cleared his throat but the smile behind his hand couldn't be hidden. "Please, dear studemt. It should be the teachers who spoil their students."

There was no sincerty in his voice. Of course. As expected.

"Well," I said.

Flender looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

I smirked. "We did win quite a bit of gold from the betting. We can cover a few gold pieces if the need arises."

Uncle Xiaogang smiled at that, but Flender was having none of it. Teacher Zhao though was snickering with Oscar and Hongjun, but a withering glare from the dean had them all regretting their teasing.

Me though, a pissed-off Flender was still a safer fight than a rookie dragon wannabe. I'd take him on any time compared to someone who could accidentally kill me without meaning to, and besides, I was already at the thirty-sixth rank. A few more death defying fights under my belt ought to push me over to my fourth ring sooner rather than later.

To his credit though, Qin Ming didn't rise to the teasing. "Really, it's alright." He had a look that said 'please no,' and it tugged at my little heart how familiar that look was.

I shrugged Flender's way. "Well, if senior insists, then junior defers."

The dean wiped his forehead with a ragged handkerchief. Seriously, how cheap was this guy to keep a ratty thing like that—judging from uncle Xiaogang's frown at the thing—and for who knew how long.

"Now now little Jin," Flender said with a sour face, "we shouldn't keep our guests waiting."

Qin Ming didn't walk much after we followed him out since the Emperor team was in the dining hall behind ours. They all looked just dandy after losing to a bunch of kids, at least, me compared to any of them since I was pretty much battered from the inside out. And it had already been a few hours already anyway, anyone not too badly beaten could've already recovered that much within that span of time.

Except for me and my physically weak ass that is.

Tianheng was the first to stand when we came in. "We welcome you, Shrek's students," he said with a small bow—again the noble's way. "Thank you for accepting our teacher's invitation."

"Thank you for having us," Boss Dai said. Even if Tang San was the one we all listened to in battle, he was still the eldest in our group. And in social settings like these, it naturally fell to him to be the voice of our group.

Though Dugu Yan looked like she had something else to say.

The Shi brothers were at least amiable, I think, with their poker faces, but Lingling was particularly focused on Tang San. Which I cou;dn't blame her for. Yu Feng, on the other hand, had no kindness in his eyes when he saw my sorry state. And Osler looked every bit as uninterested as his spirit suggested.

Which I was starting to think was shared between all feline spirits—though Boss Dai wasn't like that. Which makes me think he's probably also special somehow though for the life of me I couldn't place how.

We all sat around the table with the teachers from both sides off at the sides while us students faced off on either corner. It reminded me of those board meetings I'd usually see on dramas and whatnot.

A waiter came in and poured a round of tea for everyone while Qin Ming ordered some light dishes which Hongjun didn't waste any time with adding to.

"First off," I said. As far as first impressions went, I didn't really care much since I was clearly the most aggrieved here. I faced Tianheng "I speak for myself with this, but I would like to extend my gratitude towards you and your team for allowing me to reach the thirty-sixth rank just now."

"Truly," Tianheng said with a laugh, "whoever said the Clear Sky sect was gone was out of their minds."

I bowed a bit while scratching my head. "Though junior here would prefer we keep that truth under wraps."

"Already scheming at such an age I see," Dugu Yan said.

I shrugged. "I get by, older sister." What went unsaid though was how well it worked out enough. But had I not risen to the provocation from the announcer lady like uncle said, then surely the surprise would've been much funnier for me in hindsight.

Tianheng had a worried look but it was allayed by a timely, "He's always like that," by boss Dai.

"And rude too," Dugu Yan added.

"He is indeed," Flender added from all the way at the back.

The Emperor team and their teacher all frowned at the dean.

"Still," Osler said, "to see someone with twin spirits." He shook his head. "We were lucky to have lasted at all."

At that Tang San spoke up, "Seniors, you underestimate yourselves too much. We were at the disadvantage throughout the whole fight had you all stopped to consider our weakest point."

Dugu Yan and Lingling both didn't have high opinions of my cousin if their glares were anything to go by, and Xiao Wu's rage was most likely kept at bay by Tang San's hand. Probably literally.

Seriously though, why _didn't_ we sub the demon loli in was a mystery to me. But considering Tang San, he probably didn't want any possibility of her getting hurt. As if she could be. Oyvey.

"Please," Tianheng said. And I didn't miss the light in uncle's eyes. Though the two members of the Tyrant Dragon clan seemed to share a quick glance every now and then.

"Our biggest flaw is that we do not have any decisive blows we can unleash, and our best strength is technical battles." Which was true. Sure, I and boss Dai were strong when dueling others one to one, and Tang San had a strong battlefield presence with his range, but only Hongjun had a proper nuke in our ranks and even then his range was shit.

"We were only lucky my Crown Spirit could guide away lightning," I added.

"But luck too was a spirit master's strength," Tianheng said.

"Indeed." Tang San nodded. "It was also our luck that the revelation of Jin's spirit caused your team to stay on the defensive instead of aim for a quick and decisive victory."

Which really should be the norm. Anyone who got into a fair fight had already lost something, the element of surprise for one. And excess expenses as well on any front, like manpower or supplies or hell, even initiative and morale.

"I see," Tianheng said. "Then we can only say that it was our loss."

Dugu Yan spoke up. "But that thing you did to break my poison, how?" Her eyes had a sinister shadow behind them.

At that Tang San actually smiled. "I dare not boast," he said, "but it was only due to my knowledge of poisons that allowed me to counter such a formidable ability."

"Speak," Dugu Yan said without care.

Tianheng probably wanted to say something but it clearly showed that spirit master women were even scarier than their male counterparts.

"It was realgar powder and alcohol," Tang San said with a sheepish grin. "I didn't think I'd ever get to use it, but it was a rarely encountered situation."

Which spoke a lot about what sorts of crap he knew about. First off, knowing those complicated mechanisms and forging methods for the hidden weapons was one thing I clearly understood couldn't be learned in as little as five years in his young age. So really, the only explanation was Tang San also had knowledge from a previous life.

And I was just as guilty.

Dugu Yan had a dumb look to her when she heard that. "Realgar… powder…"

It'd come as a shock to me too shock if anyone broke my proud thousand year spirit ring ability with a common camping supply mixed with booze.

This McGuyver shit was too surreal even for me.


	29. Chapter 29

Pleasantries and small talk aside, and after a few more kind words between the teams to ease some bruised egos and smooth over any possible misgivings, we finally got to the crux of the matter.

Qin Ming dismissed his students, and kept us and the rest of the teachers in Shrek inside of the dining hall.

He bowed low and said, "It was already brought to my attention, but I would still like to clarify it with the dean. Grandmaster here has proposed the Shrek's Eight Devils to represent our Heaven Dou Imperial Academy in the coming Continental Spirit Master Academy Competition, and I believe this will be well received by my superiors once I report it to them."

Flender had on a difficult expression, but a quick glance at uncle Xiaogang and a firm one with teacher Zhao and the rest of the faculty had him steel his jaws.

"I accept this arrangement," the dean said softly. He took a deep breath and continued, "I admit my pride is a little hurt, but I cannot deny the state of my life's work is not necessarily of the best."

He turned to us. "It is no secret how our facilities are lacking, and it is no secret either that our reputation is not the most widely known. The other teachers and I have long decided that your batch will be our last, we are old and tired and have already spent so much of our years bringing up the younger generations. It was about time we found our own paths. I only wish for my dearest friends and I to keep doing what we love best until that time."

The dean turned to the teachers. "However"—he said to his former student— "I must impose the condition that I and my fellow teachers, including my brother Xiaogang, must also be welcomed as staff in the academy, and that our little monsters' education will still be ours."

True to character, at least. Flender was every bit the miser he was. This was basically us renting out our services for a shot at the grand prize, though I wasn't too sure it was a good idea for me, Xiao Wu, and Tang San. After all, us three were pretty much at the top of Spirit Hall's most wanted list: two of the Clear Sky sect's heirs, and a hundred thousand year spirit beast, yeah, our combination was a disaster waiting to happen.

Qin Ming smiled at that. "I wouldn't have it any other way, teacher. I swear to you that your glory shall forever paint the halls of the Imperial Academy."

At that, uncle let out a breath he'd been holding and teacher Zhao and the others all looked listless but satisfied. If we really were to be their last class, then this was basically a retirement plan for them as well and what better way to go out than in style. Though I could probably also invite them into our school, or Rongrong could to hers, but such arrangements usually needed a sort of bond of fealty to the sect which probably wouldn't sit well with such free-spirited people.

Though, that's assuming we could win the Competition in the first place.

Not like we weren't getting into this without the intention to win, just that it was a sizeable gamble to take with so little reassurance of anything else. For one, it was flattering to have such faith placed on us, but it was also this kind of faith that made the burden heavier.

Our lives were not just our own anymore.

I kinda feel cheated out of a nice and worry-free childhood here.

"Good," uncle said, standing up with a clap. "Now that that's settled, we can move on quickly to our next stage of training." He turned to us. "We teachers will finalize the details of our arrangements while you students should claim your winnings and badges.

We excused ourselves after that and reported to the arena's front desk. With our win count well above the norm and with such a long streak as well, we all received our silver fighting badges without problems—save for Tang San who got a gold due to being undefeated in the individual, pair, and team fights. It was another unprecedented record broken, but one that also cost us a good source of income. With his gold badge, our team now was considered a gold ranked team, and any teams we were to fight from now on would either be same ranked teams of also gold rank—which was unlikely—or rank exceeding matches where we'd fight teams of average fortieth rank and above. And that, that was suicide.

I entrusted Flender with a hefty sum to bet with for this special fight of ours, and with such outstanding odds, I couldn't help but overextend my funds. We went up against the Emperor team with ten to one odds at first and only after our side placed all our bets in did the numbers shift to a six to one. The biggest spenders here were me and Tang San at forty thousand each, then Flender with a modest twenty, uncle and the rest of the teachers and the others then came in with ten each.

Had we lost, I would've eaten a serious loss to my personal finances.

But we didn't.

So now in my hands was the most money I'd ever held in this life and the one before. A total of one hundred and twenty purple jade pieces sat in a silk pouch in front of me, along with another ten pieces as my total purse from my calculated point accumulation, and another three as a reward for defeating the Emperor team.

In total, that was a hundred and thirty three thousand gold coins. And I could've bought a goddamn mansion with that in the Imperial capital with the prices I learned about two or so years ago when I last went there. But that's only counting my big purse from this last bout, the other smaller bets from our other team, pair, and individual fights brought my total earnings up to a hundred and fifty seven thousand give or take a hundred or so.

And since Tang San earned a gold fighter badge his reward money was a whopping fifteen purple jade pieces just for getting that badge. Not too many people earned higher than an iron ranked spirit badge within a year, so our whole team raking in a killing like this in a month was a totally new experience for the Arena. After all, no matter how big their income, if they had to shell out some ten thousand or so every month end for their new joiners then they would've gone bankrupt long ago.

But their winnings from the Emperor team's loss was also that big, and even bigger was the predicament we saved them from so they were only too happy with letting us get a cut of their big ass pie.

We all left the Suotou Great Spirit Arena a whole lot richer than when we first got there, or at all.

The trip then to Heaven Dou Empire's capital would be in two months. Enough time for senior Qin to arrange everything for us as well as send word back to the small village where Shrek academy was situated in.

While waiting, we'd have that much free time to ourselves to spend however we wished. And whenever uncle allowed some sort of rest like this meant shit was gonna go down a whole lot harder immediately the day after, kinda like those rooms just before a boss fight that stocked you up on supplies. Which meant the only real way to avoid too much hardship was to keep working on improving ourselves on our own, a work ethic that Tang San lived by, and something I was more familiar with from my previous life, but something Xiao Wu never got around to picking up in spite of all that time.

Then again, she'd already spent a hundred thousand years cultivating so I guess it could be forgiven.

#

We returned to the small village shortly after that.

Our academy wasn't something that could be sold for a lot, but land was still land no matter how far away from the main city. At best, however, Flender could probably sell off this place for an optimistic eight to ten thousand gold depending on whether any of the nobles here wanted this place, but more likely was he'll get some two to three thousand instead from the pooled resources of the villagers here.

That was the danger in running an auction on one's own, though I could probably buy this land for the sect to set up as a sleeper base. We couldn't really have enough of those, but we couldn't exactly field so many people at once and not be spread too thin. And as much as I'd love to bring this tactic up with Rongrong and her family, I could easily infer that we wouldn't be the only ones to think up something like this. Better then to keep our own locations secret.

Not that I didn't trust them, just that I believe a healthy level of paranoia ought to help keep me alive assuming this beef with Spirit Hall was just that big.

On our first day of vacation, or as close to one as we'd get, everyone save for me and Tang San took it easy. Hongjun indulged in his eating and Oscar with his sleep while Rongrong and Xiao Wu stuck to their hut and I guess talked and rested or something. Boss Dai on the other hand, well, I guess he and Zhuqing had something to work out though I doubt they'd do anything more than talk.

Tang San asked for all the iron, tungsten, and platinum I had as well as whatever other metals I had and he took most of everything so he could go back to his forging. I long ago learned to just let him do his thing when it came to things like this. A short while after that and I heard him hammering away.

For me, well, I had no particular thing in mind.

So I picked a fight with teacher Zhao to keep up my combat training.

And just like that, day and night would pass with Tang San keeping to himself in his forge with only Xiao Wu to keep him from missing out on his meals. Boss Dai, Oscar, and Hongjun were a lot more lax in that they spent more of their time actually taking their time than working on something.

Zhuqing, however, joined me with fighting the teachers every now and then.

Nothing was quite as satisfying as landing a solid hit on teacher Zhao or making the dean suffer under my Crown's light. That is, until they paid me back for it two or three fold and then it wasn't as fun.

Rongrong and Xiao Wu though weren't even trying, only watching by the sidelines at times.

The fight with the Emperor team really pushed us all hard, and I wasn't the only one to rank up after that, so it's not like they were neglecting themselves. Rest too was a part of training, uncle always said.

Our ranks after that last bug battle were: boss Dai at the last steps of the thirty-eight, Tang San now at thirty-eight as well, me at thirty-six, with Xiao Wu behind me at thirty-five, Oscar and Hongjun at thirty-three, then Zhuqing and Rongrong at thirty-two.

With all of our ages below thirteen years of age with me being the youngest at eleven, then we were all well above the norm. However, when Zhuqing revealed to the rest of the group how she'd reached the thirty-third rank on the sixth day of our constant fighting, that finally got their butts into gear—save for Tang San who was still holed up in his smithy.

Eh, I trusted in him enough to keep his lead and even push ahead of boss Dai after this period of self discovery was over. For me though I was more concerned with improving my overall toughness, and building on that I ought to aim for something that would improve my body's condition for my next ring, maybe something strong and stable.

In terms of knowledge I'd already obtained the best education a noble could get with my visits to aunt Yehua, and most of my finances I could already manage effectively from what I had. Not to mention a sizeable capital from all the betting. All that was really left now was to account for the deficiencies of my cultivation and then finally reach the Titled Douluo realm and make Spirit Hall pay. Which was easier said than done, but not exactly complicated either.

But to just keep fighting like a meat head wasn't going to make me reach any all new heights.

By the seventh day, there weren't any more significant improvements to my spirit power, but the others kept up their sparring with the teachers while I pondered over how best to continue my cultivation.

The best benefits were gained from either grave danger or good insights and neither were too easy to get from way out in the sticks. Though, I still had a stock of dynamite I had from that last big batch I made together with Tang San's arming us with his hidden weapons. I could probably try blowing myself up with that to rouse my spirit power into protecting me against strong forces—that, or end up killing myself accidentally.

Although there was always the age old method of simply expending all my spirit power and then recovering and grinding away at that. The sparring was basically that with the added pressure of combat, but since it wasn't doing anything too noticeable, I opted out. Perhaps if I had something that allowed me to put my spirit power towards some specific goal then that'd lead to some good realizations, but as things stood, I had nothing like that.

So I guess the next best thing was to be patient and wait for my next big break. But not one to be left idle, I still needed something to pass the time.

In times like these, it was best to seek uncle out. I left my room and walked up to his hut.

Maybe he'd just tell me something like figure it out on my own, it wouldn't be the first time if ever. Usually an answer like that meant he already had something in mind and was just waiting for me to do something close to it—or stray so dangerously far that he had to intervene. And other times he'd actually admit to not knowing himself and we'd end up speculating and stuff and coming up with things to try out.

Eitherway, it was still a step forward.

I reached his place and looked in from his window. He was cultivating inside with Luo San Pao by his feet and three spirit rings floating behind him, two yellow and one purple. It must've happened sometime between when Tang San, Xiao Wu, and I left for Shrek academy.

Uncle didn't like summoning his spirit much before since it reminded him of his shame, and I guess old habits tend to stick for long if his attitude was anything to go by now. The poor dog was nothing but a fart cannon before, but after using my chakras based cultivating method, there were a few significant changes.

When I first met uncle, San Pao was like a purple steamed bun that grew tiny legs and was cute in an ugly way. Then came the changes from my cultivation method that had its fat body become more streamline.

And now, gone were the pudgy legs and the ugly cute look. Now it just looked ugly and mean, and a whole lot more muscular. Like a really buff mastiff thing. The little round thing on its head now looked like a clear jewel, and on either side of its head just in front of the ears were two small golden bumps. Its purple fur now had a steak of white down the spine, and claws were beginning to emerge from its paws.

The third ring really made a world of a difference to his spirit—and now I wasn't so sure if he was really a weaker variant.

San Pao raised his head and met my eyes, the gentle look was still there, but there was dignity now when before there was only bashful shyness.

He nudged uncle with his flat snout, and the guy awoke from his cultivation.

I waved at him, and he motioned for me to come in.

"Yes little Jin?" he said as I came in from the door.

"I was hoping to ask for some advice uncle."

He smiled. "I'm not really someone you can come to for matters of the heart little one," he said. "My love life is only filled with tragedy."

San Pao howled quietly, but his doggish grin really weakened the impact.

Wait, did he just make a joke?

"Yes, little Jin, that was indeed a joke," uncle said while rolling his eyes.

"Ah, right." I tried to laugh but it was so out of character for him to crack one that I was so caught off guard. "I see San Pao has, umm, been exercising."

He chuckled. "Yes, little Jin. He has indeed changed quite a bit."

At that, San Pao stretched his legs—now more than thrice their length before, and when he stood, he was about as tall as my scrawny ass of four feet and eight inches. Yeah, a big change alright.

"So, have you tried riding him already?"

Uncle and San Pao shared a look. "We haven't tried yet, now that you've mentioned it. We ought to."

"And his third ability?" I mean, anyone would be interested in the long awaited breakthrough after all.

"I'm glad you asked," he said with a satisfied smile. "San Pao here gained a lightning breath attack."

Huh, welp, it was bound to go out the other end somehow. "And the first two abilties are still from, well, there?"

Uncle nodded deeply. "He may," he said with a profound depth, "but he may also now release it from the front as well." His eyes twinkled after he said that.

Going either way was probably an advantage if he were running away from someone, and being able to attack without having to turn was an advantage in a situation like that that could easily spell getting away or not during a crucial moment.

And I guess the bigger part here is his spirit no longer needs to fart to attack. A big ass improvement. No pun intended.

"San Pao has really gone far," I said with a nod. "Will we be getting your next spirit ring soon?"

He smiled wryly. "I've been at the twenty-ninth rank for so long that I'd almost forgotten what it was like to aspire for more." Uncle took a deep breath. "If luck would be so kind, then maybe not long from now. I am currently at the thirty-third rank."

"That's really good to hear. And maybe a rank exceeding ring will be of even more help?"

He raised a brow at me. "Why do you think San Pao changed as much as he did?"

"My grandpas!"

He chuckled, then waved away the idle chatter. "I thank you for your concern, and you better not get lax with your cultivation now little Jin. It would be a shame if an old man like me got ahead of you at so young, yes?"

I stared at him. "Really? Me? You should be telling Rongrong and Xiao Wu."

Uncle sighed. "I do tell them, they just don't bother at times.

I sighed too. "Yeah, they really don't try sometimes."

He shook his head. "You should get that fiance of yours to take after your good work ethic."

I crossed my arms. "She's not my fiance."

He hummed. "Since when did you get married then?"

"Bah, you spend too much time with my grandpas, their bad attitudes are rubbing off on you."

"Yes, yes," he said with a small laugh. "Why were you here again?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm quite stumped with what I need to do to further my cultivation."

Uncle nodded and indicated for me to keep going.

"I've been fighting teacher Zhao and the others for the last few days but I found my spirit power hadn't grown much from there. I believe I could be stagnating, and was hoping to do something different."

He raised a finger. "First off, I believe you've gotten too used to rising in ranks easily. Rising in ranks isn't something normally done in the span of a few weeks, much less doing ten in a year or less."

"But that doesn't mean I shouldn't cultivate, yeah?"

"Indeed," he said with a nod. "But you must also not forget that most of your progress was due to your absorption of spirit rings exceeding the normal limit, hence, it can be said that even up to now you most likely still have some shake foundations."

I hung my head. "Now that I think about it, that queen ant did indeed give me a strong boost in cultivation."

He cleared his throat. "And haven't you also noticed how much spirit power your abilities use?"

This line of questioning really only had one conclusion. "You're saying I haven't been able to assimilate all the spirit power from my spirit rings yet?"

"That's what I believe at least," he said. "From what I saw, this refining method your grandpas did for you would compress the spirit power of your rings into something more manageable for you to absorb, but that doesn't bleed away the actual power contained in them." He gestured with his hand. "So…"

"So it means my spirit rings still contain all that spirit power?"

He shrugged. "Yes. But it's just a theory for now, and that domain of yours truly behaves strangely for it to even allow you to pass spirit power from yourself into your rings and spirits. A method like that is as unprecedented as your case of merged spirits."

"I see."

"Another matter I have noticed is how your abilities don't seem to carry the tyrannical might of your spirit rings." Uncle was stroking his chin. "Have you not noticed how powerful Tang San's two thousand year abilities are?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, uncle."

"Compare the effects of your three thousand year rings to Tang San's. Your Crown and your Hammer's abilities are both not as potent as his Needles and Swords, are they not?"

Now that he pointed that out… "I certainly have noticed how boss Dai's strengthening ability was something he could use for a long time, and how Tang San can keep using his needles and swords, but wasn't that because of the consumption like you pointed out earlier?"

He shook his head. "Not with the consumption, have you not tried to meet Mubai's thousand year strengthening with your hammer's own?"

"I have, and I'd usually lost, I'm not so sure what's strange with that."

He massaged his temples. "And has it ever occurred to you just how big of a difference there is to the cultivation of your rings?"

Well, shit.

"Yes, little Jin. That's what I'm trying to make you realize." He sighed. "I believe that out of everyone you've ever met at the same rank as you, you would still have the highest total cultivation in years from your spirit rings. I would dare to assume Mubai's thousand year ring reaches no higher than two thousand at most, and for your six thousand year ability to lose to that would be too much of a joke."

Chills went up and down my spine. "H-have I been doing things wrong then?" Have I been wasting my efforts all this time, went unsaid.

He narrowed his eyes. "No, I believe." Uncle hummed. "If anything, I believe you've been too impatient with everything, and that you are amazing in the sense that you've been able to keep things up for so long while disadvantaged."

He raised a finger. "Assuming all of these theories of mine truly hit the mark."

It was a lot to take in. "Why only tell me now?"

"I was hoping you'd notice sooner," he said. "But your progress amazed me, so I felt it best to first allow you to grow as much as you could before we again strengthened your foundations."

I crossed my arms and looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. "I'm not so sure whether to say I'm blessed or cursed."

"You are cursed with good blessings," he said with a chuckle.

I stayed there unmoving, relishing the memories of my previous fights in the Suotou Spirit Arena, more specifically, that last fight with the Emperor team. Those cultivation year limits were a widely known fact among the spirit master community, and for the Shi brothers to have bested me so in our fights, then it was the same situation as well with boss Dai. I should be much stronger than I currently was with my spirit rings. Much, much stronger.

And yet I wasn't. And why was that so normal to me? Perhaps it was because I'd spent so long in the company of some true monsters that the only indication I had of my own progress was relative to what they perceived. Yes, my grandpas and family truly wanted only the best for me, but they had no idea how to rear someone with merged spirits since it has never occurred before in our sect.

San Pao nudged me out of my stupor.

"Which reminds me," I said. "Have you told Tang San yet about San Pao?"

Uncle winked. He actually fucking winked. Ew. But also, what the hell.

"I feel offended at that surprise of yours," he said. "Even I, your uncle, can have my own cute moments too."

"Yeah, you really have spent too much time with my grandpas and they've already corrupted you."

"Allow an old man his fun."

Next to him, San Pao snickered.

#

With renewed inspiration, I then sat at a grove just a little bit away from the rest of the academy where I could find some peace from all the constant fighting the others were doing. I guess all this exchanging of pointers got everyone's spirits roused since Rongrong and Xiao Wu were actually participating with gusto. But for how they got those two to do anything was still anyone's guess. Well, anyone here being just me.

I cleared my head of any distractions as I focused on what Interface was showing me. The cultivation bar sat at a measly fifteen percent of the way, while the tantalizing thirty-six indicated my current rank. My two spirits were in their inactive states with three boxes each filled, showing the three abilities available to either of them.

A blue bar sat above the yellow cultivation bar indicating the spirit power available to me, and the red bar above that indicated how much damage I could currently tank.

But I had to go beyond that superficial layer and reach further into my spirits, even further beyond the easy to use user interface my powers allowed me. It was the realm of sensation and impressions, the same vast sea where I'd usually found myself whenever I was dealing with my new spirit rings.

There was a vast space within, though I wasn't sure if it was metaphorical or literal.

Deeper and deeper as far as my breath could take me and I found the same black and gold I'd come to know. They each permeated the space half and half, one side a refined and elegant luster, the other a sonorous and profound depth.

I needed to reach even further than that.

With each breath my senses moved further and further away from my grasp and I dove deeper within.

The boundaries of thought and self blurred in that blankness of gold and black together with the undulations of power that roiled within. There were areas of peace and areas of turbulence, some flowing fast and some flowing slower, some flowing one way and some the other. There were pools in different sizes and orientations roughly forming a vertical line in the middle of the two colors.

And together they churned within and took in from that vastness.

My breath and my thoughts seeped into the colors.

And the gold expanded towards that vastness within and without—and grasped upon the masses. Large and unyielding maelstroms of power separate from the pools, separate from the lights and distinct from the vastness. They moved without purpose besides their own.

The gold enveloped them, taking them in its colored space.

And the maelstroms shook and churned. Then came a drop.

And then it was a trickle. A small inkling of color bleeding from the maelstroms and seeping into the gold.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the maelstroms gave and gave and the trickle turned to a flow, then to a stream, then to a current, growing and growing and faster and faster and the gold turned and roiled with their turbulent rumbling coloring the gold in their own hues. Overtaking. Overpowering. Overbearing, storming, and pushing and churning and thundering through.

The gold was dyed in manners of blue and red and orange, each one diluting the purity of the luster and taking away from it. It would not yield, but it would not stretch or give either. Gold twisted and turned with the colors that raged within.

And then came the black like the dead of night.

It permeated into the gold like the passage of dawn dispelling the dark. It came without warning like the first wisps of sleep.

Barely anything, and then all at once.

It filtered the hues from the maelstroms out of the gold and returned it to its serene homogeneity and the black took its rightful place just beside.

Then something invaded the vastness like a cascade of jeweled lights.

And then I was taken away from that vastness and I found myself face to face with a fair lady I'd known for the longest time.

Pink irises met mine.

"Hello Rongrong," I said. I was still seated the same as when I started.

"You're finally awake," she said with a shaky breath.

I frowned at her. "Something bad happened?" And knowing my terrible luck, it was probably something pretty bad.

Rongrong pursed her lips and nodded over behind her, at the same time moving away from me so I could see something else besides her.

And then, all I saw was barren earth within a few meters around me, and the few trees—or the charred husks left of them said all I needed to know. It was a scene that reminded me of that night with the grasses that almost killed me.

There was no indication in Interface of my ranking up, and the cultivation bar was at only slightly above where it was before, but there was something else within that told me I'd gotten somewhere with all that.

Xiao Wu was just behind her. The girl stuck her tongue out. "Should I call for Tang San?" Her tone didn't match her playful demeanor.

There were no alarms going off in Interface so I think I was still alright. But I still had to ask, "What happened?"

Rongrong crossed her arms. "That was the first time I ever saw someone release lightning while cultivating."


	30. Chapter 30

"It's not normal?"

Rongrong shook her head with a straight face, and Xiao Wu was even more resolute with her reply.

"I myself have never seen anyone do that before." Xiao Wu made a show of a big shrug.

I took a good look beyond the barren ground and charred trees and saw burnt tracks that trailed along the ground that drew forked paths through the grass. There were a few small craters as well with the dirt charred black with me at the center of all that chaos.

"Uhh, did you two see anything else?" Any information would be nice to have. "And how'd you get near me in the first place?"

Xiao Wu snickered and pointed at Rongrong.

The girl cleared her throat. "We didn't come near at all, I just thought to use my spirit on you to get your attention, and sure enough the lightning stopped and you woke up by the time I reached you."

I shrugged. That explained what I saw then. "So, anything?"

They both shook their heads.

"Sorry little Jin," Xiao Wu said, "besides the lightning tearing up the place, there wasn't much else I saw."

"Same with me," Rongrong said.

"You've never done that before," Xiao Wu said. "Did you try anything new?"

"Sort of," I said, "I was talking to uncle earlier and he said that my abilities didn't match the supposed might that thousand year spirit rings ought to display."

Rongrong tilted her head at me, but Xiao Wu nodded. "Now that you mention it," she said. "It isn't as noticeable, but I always thought it was only because of your weaker body."

"That's what I thought too," I said with a sigh. "Tool spirit masters don't exactly get very strong physically, but it's not like we don't completely grow at all."

"So, why the lightning then?" Rongrong said.

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Our working theory was that I still haven't fully assimilated my spirit rings' powers yet, so there ought to be a bit more I could get from them."

Xiao Wu didn't look too happy with that, and I gave her a sheepish wince. Having a hundred thousand year spirit beast walking among us made the matter of ranking up a not as easy topic. Perhaps there was still some distrust with her being so close to us, since a hundred thousand year beast would give so many benefits to anyone regardless of whether they could absorb the spirit ring or not.

Naturally, she would be under the protection of our sect as Tang San's future wife. And no one doubted that for even one second. Even uncle Hao had already given them his blessing though there was still that promise to keep away from harm as much as possible. It also went without saying that uncle Hao's approval also meant dad's and pretty much guaranteed a solid vote of confidence from the elders in the sect as well.

Which really brought to mind these doubts of whether us three ought to show up for that continental fight between spirit masters. To so willingly walk into the heart of Spirit Hall's influence was just asking for trouble, and by then it'd only be a matter of time before we were found out. Maybe I could weasel us out of the competition, or maybe we really could get away with it, but there were way too many unknowns for any good outcome to be reached within reason.

"I see," Rongrong said with feigned awe, "I didn't think it were possible, but here you are with merged spirits, and I am but a young lady in a wide wide world."

Sure, and I was a monkey's uncle. Wait, if Tang San really did marry Xiao Wu and that Er Ming ape dude ever had a kid… no, that was a bad metaphor now then. Err, if a snake grew horns? Nah, too likely. And with pigs flying I'm willing to count Hongjun and his phoenix spirit in the future so… uhh, you know what, this was a bad train of thought. I'd rather not jinx anything at all.

Xiao Wu smiled wryly. "Just don't overdo it then, little Jin. It'd be a little difficult if you ended up with the same problem as before."

I waved at them as they left me to my devices.

I moved away from ground zero and found a big rock to sit on. All this destruction of nature in my wake was really going to take its toll someday. Though hopefully not so bad as to become a walking calamity or something. Still, lightning, eh. And judging from Xiao Wu's reaction, it might not be normal either for spirit beasts to do that. Whether this was a success or not though I still didn't know.

I checked Interface for anything out of the ordinary and didn't see anything different besides the cultivation bar displaying the smallest hint of an improvement.

I summoned both of my spirits and arrayed my rings around me, my Crown on my head and my Hammer in hand. There was nothing different either from having them out. But there was that something at the tip of my tongue, or like an itch just outside my reach.

I willed my Domain to reach out for the nearest live tree and I activated Devour—and still it was at more or less the same rate as normal.

I sighed.

My first ring flashed once more, this time a bolt of black light appearing from my Hammer and I shot it towards the tree I illuminated with Devour—and destroyed it like normal. I then fully consumed the wreckage to nothingness.

I grumbled and activated Shock.

But nothing happened. Which was to be expected since there was nothing to feel the electrification of my Domain, and its not like it'd suddenly call down lightning in the middle of a clear day anyway. I hung my head in embarrassment, thankful there was no one around to see that.

I raised my Hammer high and willed the Thunder Heart Strike into being before having it crash down into the ground as a spider web of electricity erupted from the ground and broke through the earth.

That was, a bit different than normal. But I needed someone to hit to really see if anything changed. Still, I don't remember ever seeing my attack release electricity like that—though the consumption stayed its solid twelve percent of my available spirit power.

I sat back down with a plop.

The Clear Sky Hammer didn't give two shits about staying power, only and always erupting with the strongest powers. I guess now it makes sense why the sect created the Nine Absolutes as a workaround to the hammer's usefulness in regular combat. After all, if it always consumed so much then we'd basically be one hit wonders, maybe literally.

Welp, whatever. That… meditation I did would most likely yield some better effects if I kept it up.

I emptied my mind and sank back down into that vastness.

#

I awoke to the same jeweled light as before.

And the first thing I saw was the rest of our guys standing around me with Rongrong at the helm. They all looked like they were dusted with soot and there was a faint burnt smell in the air.

None of them were smiling. And Tang San still wasn't with them. Though Hongjun didn't look too bothered. Oscar and Mubai on the other hand had seen much better days. Xiao Wu also had a frayed lock of hair standing out by the sides, and Rongrong's white dress from earlier had now changed into a pastel pink—and it was night time too. Zhuqing though, well, she was missing a sleeve from her robes.

"What the hell happened to you guys?"

Boss Dai grabbed my head and turned it to the side.

There was a sizeable fire off in the distance that was currently being fended off by the combined efforts of the dean and the other teachers. It hadn't reached the ring of houses that was our Shrek academy though so that was good, but left on its own, it could've gotten much worse.

"Oh."

"Yeah," boss Dai said. "Care to explain?"

I opened my mouth. But nothing came out. I closed it again and massaged my temples. Oh boy. "Actually, no. I can't explain because I don't know what happened."

He narrowed his eyes at me and inched his face closer, the scrutiny in them burning into my soul.

Rongrong pointed at the remnants of the now dying fire. "The village won't be too happy once they realize that was all you."

"Umm, err, foliage gets really dry around the fall season?"

"That excuse might have worked little Jin, had it been fall." Oscar shook his head. "It's spring right now."

"There's always blaming it on some… uhh… explosives?"

"That won't help anything," Xiao Wu said with a stomp.

I was so distracted I'd forgotten the little thirty-seven now sitting in Interface denoting my cultivation. But now probably wasn't the best time to bring that up.

"I'll help with the clean up," I offered.

No more words were said after that and all of them retired to their huts, the teachers who just finished up with the fire included. The dean however made sure to leave a few threats over my head with hellish training if I didn't get everything cleaned up by sunrise.

I bathed the whole space under my Domain and I really did a number on the area, easily big enough to span some thirty or so meters everywhere, which also meant I'd hurt the chances of this patch of land selling for a high price by the time we left.

I guess I ended up de facto buying this land for the sect then. Eh, whatever. It was pretty close to that little mountain base we made during our training so it wasn't too bad. I'll probably get a sturdy stone house built here and station a few people to stand guard, maybe have a month or so worth of supplies between here and the mountain station. It wasn't half bad considering the history associated with this place and its proximity with Suotuo city where my identity was revealed no matter how private of a situation that was.

Still, either Flender made a mistake with his demands or he didn't mean it to be impossible but he never specified any restrictions with how I went about my business. The bits and pieces of organic matter I took in with Devour and whatever I couldn't dissolve I crushed with my Hammer into dust.

I finished around four in the morning with most of everything already cleared away. They probably hadn't expected me to be so good with hiding my tracks, and it was an easy mistake to make when dealing with a single man in his twenties living on his own. Of course I'd be damn good at taking care of any evidence.

By the time the sun appeared, all that was left was a wide tract of land bare of any vegetation or stone, almost good enough to start plowing with. And as one who liked his symmetry, I went ahead and fixed the rest of the land into a nice square and broke the earth up where it wasn't yet.

Flender dropped by while I was in the middle of prepping the land.

He frowned at me and raised a brow.

"I thought I might as well, the earth was already broken up and the chaos was getting to me."

He looked the fresh turned soil over and the even size of it all pleased me to no end.

"This… is actually a good idea, little Jin," he said while stroking his beard.

And that was how I inadvertently made myself known as a man of many talents, since I knew an art as lowly as farming. But any true warrior worth his salt would give agriculture the respect it rightly deserved.

He who controls the grain, controls the people!

Down with the bourgeoisie!

After I finished clearing a fifty by fifty meter area of turned earth cleared of any trees or stone—it was larger than the original damage but I preferred even numbers so I went at it anyway—that was the time I reported to the dean that I was done.

Flender was all smiles, and that usually meant either a money making scheme or vengeance. Though in this case it could be both. I don't think I've done anything so horrible to him though besides maybe keep him up all night with all the crushing I did.

He left me after inspecting the place one more time, but I couldn't help my suspicions.

With some more free time on my hands, I felt it prudent to continue with my experimentation. And since I'd already cleared an area for myself, I went ahead and stamped an area flat with my Hammer and sat down there. Hopefully this time I won't end up burning anything anymore.

Back down the rabbit hole I went.

#

Days and nights would pass and where before I only perceived a maelstrom, in time it became a more distinct myriad of profound hunger, unsatiated resentment, and an all consuming need. One grabbed and clawed, and the other pushed where the other pulled, and as one the maelstrom surged and stormed. It took my gold just as quickly as I'd taken from it, while the black kept its throes at bay.

The maelstrom was still there, but neither could it penetrate further nor could it run either.

Together they roiled, and apart they unraveled into their distinct impressions.

Slowly but surely, with patience and fortitude and the simple quiet effort of perseverance, the storm kept crashing against the lustrous gold and endless black. There was peace on the side of night and day, and chaos beyond.

Slowly but surely, the storm would dissolve and only my lights would remain.

Slowly but surely, all of it would be truly mine.

On and on, bit by bit, piece by piece. I would make it all mine. Just like I did with everything else in this life. Tiny little steps too few to notice in its first pass, but a journey of a thousand miles began with the first step, and I'd long been taking my steps.

I just didn't always have the right ideas.

There was no time in this vastness. Only me and the storms, and my light, and the few sparse thoughts in between. Impressions were all I had to go on. Interface could not reach here and make sense of the world for me so it was up to me to make sense of it on my own. It was the steady sort of need that I couldn't leave alone, the itch I needed to scratch, and the craving I needed to fill.

Step by little step, chunk by little chunk, slowly, always, steady and calm.

It must've been forever before I opened my eyes again.

When I came to, there was no butterfly emerging from its chrysalis or a dam burst open, it was more instead like waking from the depths of sleep. My cultivation sat at a solid thirty-seven following the developments of the last how many days. I stopped eating sometime between then and now when the process to descend into that meditative state became easier and easier, and now my cultivation was already halfway from the thirty-seventh.

The sun was already well into the afternoon when I stood, and there were the same darkened patches in the upturned earth but no great fires like the night before or as much destruction since everything was already disturbed.

I willed my spirits to manifest, and together with them came a depth unlike before.

My Hammer was larger than I remembered, even larger than when I first absorbed the queen's ring and my Crown came with a clarity even more potent than before.

Perhaps this was what I was waiting for.

I willed spirit power to enter my Hammer and let it swell, filling it with as much as it could take and the spirit grew as it took more and more. There came a point when pushing in would take more effort than to release, and it was at this time that I'd activated my second ring.

Glorious purple light shone as I raised my Hammer high, electricity crackling on its body—and fell like a drop of starlight down to the ground.

 _Bang!_

The earth exploded with a shower of sparks that shot upwards from the ground and clawed and roiled outward, licking with wisps of electricity within my immediate vicinity. It still took the same twelve percent of spirit power as before, plus the spirit power I infused into the Hammer beforehand, but it never erupted with the same intensity as now.

Sometime after that I must've started laughing.

I willed Shock into being, and my golden light was infused with a violent crackling—again another major change from before. I willed Corrode and a hissing issued from the gold. Together they churned like a storm where the light passed, and Devour came like a howl in the night.

I summoned a Bullet and shot it out—and it went through a tree and bore into the ground a solid three feet before it dissipated, and when I activated Mantle, I felt as if I could shake the world.

My spirit power dwindled fast under the tyrannical consumption of my Hammer, and I raised my spirit high once more as I willed Thunder Heart Strike and Iron Wasp Bullet together before giving everything I had to erupt with the first swing of Disorder Splitting Wind.

The explosion after that was something I could only dream of.

Flender arrived shortly after that.

"Little Jin?!" he said with a worried look.

I stopped laughing to catch my breath, but my limbs wouldn't move from having expended all my spirit power in the span of a few seconds. "I-I'm alright teacher," I said from within the meter deep crater I'd made.

A lecture and another quick clean up later, and dinner was a torrid affair because whatever it was I did left me famished as all hell by the time I recovered enough to stand on my own. Rongrong sat next to me watching me keep up bowl for bowl with Hongjun from all the rice I was eating, and still I didn't feel anywhere near full.

Uncle walked up to where we were.

"I take it the experiment was a success?" he asked.

I finished my fourth bowl before answering, "Yes, uncle. My abilities have improved and I am now at the thirty-seventh rank."

The already noisy dinner erupted further into an uproar after that.

"Little Jin?!" boss Dai said. "Are you really already so close?"

Xiao Wu though crossed her arms and smiled. And it wouldn't be a surprise if she suddenly said she'd broken through herself tomorrow. I always assumed she kept up with my speed just to spite me, but I knew better now that she only didn't want to overtake Tang San.

Hongjun and Oscar both looked at me like I was a freak, and Zhuqing's intense gaze almost made me fear for my chastity had I not known that was simply how she was as a person.

"We should start a fire too," Oscar said to Hongjun.

The dean cleared his throat from a table away and that idea died in its infancy. Teacher Zhao started laughing and made a motion to come at him anytime, and I was definitely going to take him up on that offer as soon as I could.

"And still so young," Rongrong said. She slapped her cheeks and pointed at my face. "I can't lose to you!"

Zhuqing joined her resolution and the two were more fired up than ever before.

Uncle stayed calm and asked, "And the changes?"

"My Thunder Heart Strike now properly releases lightning as opposed to only applying some sort of shock on contact, and Shock from my Crown now truly saturates my domain with electricity. Devour and Corrode both seem to cause some sort of sound to emanate from my domain, while my Black Wasp Bullet now launches with enough energy to go through a tree and gouge out the ground. And last but not least, Honored Ant Mantle allowed me to create that crater in the middle of the farmland together with my other two Hammer abilities."

"Of course you made that crater," Mubai said while shaking his head. "And, did you just say you did it in one attack?"

"Well, yes," I said while scratching my cheek. "But it took so much from me."

Uncle hummed. "But anyone would eat grief with such an attack. And yes, this is indeed what I'd expected of the Clear Sky Hammer's prowess. After all, seeing that legend of a man Tang Hao before was like witnessing the heavens split apart in his honor."

The title of Clear Sky was a hereditary title given only to one wielder of the Clear Sky Hammer in any generation, and uncle Hao was the one who held it. To gain that title, one must unleash the full might of the Clear Sky Hammer using the full eighty-one strikes of the Disorder Splitting Wind method and dispel a raging storm. Hearing it and having the power of a Titled Douluo seems like a simple affair, but to exhibit enough power to actually defy the power of nature was something not so easily achieved.

"Thank you for helping me gain this insight, uncle," I said with a bow.

"Anything to help a friend," he said with a chuckle.

#

The following morning, I was the first to show up around the same area where I started sparring with teacher Zhao. After a week or so of not going here, the place was already pockmarked with little holes and footsteps and the grass was long stamped out. Looks like it caught on to the idea, and constant adversity was usually a good thing for growing spirit masters.

It wouldn't be inaccurate to say I was excited to see how the changes I'd experienced would translate to some light combat experience, but more important was I needed to get used to them again if I didn't want to get taken by surprise during an actual fight. I needed to fight, but I was also too early.

I was sitting by the edge of the make-shift ring with my Crown out and cultivating.

"Little Jin, you're up early."

I opened my eyes and saw boss Dai making his way towards me, and behind him was Zhuqing with her usual intense gaze. There weren't any other people out and about so maybe they got into the habit as well of waking up early.

"Good morning boss Dai, Zhuqing," I greeted. "You both are also here to exchange pointers with everyone?"

Boss Dai smiled but shook his head. "For today, I'm only interested in you."

"Please big brother, I don't swing that way."

Zhuqing rolled her eyes and boss Dai laughed. "It would be strange of me to get a blonde," he said. But Zhuqing was having none of it and glared at him.

He raised his hands in front of him to placate her.

"You know," I said, "I never got around to asking, but would you two be related somehow?"

"We are not," Zhuqing said, terse. "Come on little Jin, weren't you looking for a fight yourself?" She raised a brow my way.

I stood up from where I sat and stretched my legs. "Why yes, yes I was indeed looking for a fight." I turned my body a few times and stretched my arms. "But that doesn't answer the question."

The girl narrowed her eyes at me and Mubai was making these cut it out gesture from behind her.

"Do you really wish to know?" she asked.

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

Mubai looked like he was about to go down on his knees or something.

"I wouldn't be asking otherwise." I covered my mouth with my hand and giggled, and Zhuqing flinched. Boss Dai just frowned.

"It really doesn't suit you," he said.

"I agree," Zhuqing said. She sighed. "I do owe you for your help with my spirit ring." She scratched her cheek before crossing her arms.

Boss Dai was starting to blush.

"He and I," she said while pointing back to him with her thumb, "are engaged."

Boss Dai smiled a goofy and careless grin. Zhuqing snapped at him and he went rigid.

"As you can see, he isn't exactly an image of poise and grace," she said with rancor.

I shrugged. "It's not that uncommon to see families arrange for marriages."

Zhuqing nodded. "If only this lewd tiger could be as upstanding as Tang San then I would be left at ease."

Boss Dai's tense mug broke into a deep frown.

"Aren't I also an example of a good man?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"No offense little Jin, but as virtuous as you might be with the desires of the flesh, you aren't exactly one to evoke stability or refinement." Zhuqing clicked her tongue. "I'm rather worried now for the future of your Clear Sky sect."

"I couldn't agree with you more," said grandpa Shan.

"We were hoping this time away from home would make him a better person, but it seems its making him worse," said grandpa Lin.

I looked up to the two old bastards.

They both looked at me with shit eating grins.

Boss Dai and Zhuqing hopped away from them and brought their spirits out.

Grandpa Shan was about to summon his spirits when grandpa Lin cuffed him.

"Behave yourself you old coot!" Grandpa Lin scratched his balding head and grandpa Shan laughed like a thundering storm.

And that's when most of everyone decided to show up, with Flender at the helm together with teacher Zhao and uncle Xiaogang.

"Esteemed elders," the dean said with a bow. "It is a pleasure to see you once more." His smile was the same I'd seen of him after we won that large purse, and of course my grandpas would've paid him off somehow.

"It is good to see you all as well," grandpa Lin said with a slight nod.

"These must be little Jin's friends," grandpa Shan said. His gaze swept over our team and settled on Rongrong whom he nodded to.

"And little San?" grandpa Lin said.

Uncle smiled. "Still in his smithy," he said. "He's been in there for the past month and it must be something interesting to be as consumed as he is with his project."

Grandpa Lin grimaced at Xiao Wu. "Do forgive the stubbornness of our blood."

But the girl shook her head with a smile. "Ge is only more handsome when something interests him so."

Zhuqing blushed.


	31. Chapter 31

The sudden arrival of two Titled Douluos, which only a handful knew of but I didn't doubt everyone else could figure out, interrupted our routine, but after a round of introductions things went swimmingly enough. We all had breakfast together a little louder than normal save for Tang San who was still locked away in his smithy, and boss Dai and Zhuqing couldn't help but gawk at the two. Well, even Oscar and Hongjun were staring pretty hard. Rongrong and Xiao Wu on the other hand were a bit more used to their company—and thankfully grandpa Shan wasn't teasing the two anymore.

As for the matter of my engagement to Rongrong, that was something we haven't properly discussed yet as a family. Or at all. Because I didn't have any plans yet for that and we were both still so young!

We haven't even both reached puberty yet dammit!

"I heard from Xiaogang here that you proposed to Rongrong?" grandpa Shan said with a knowing smile.

Rongrong buried her face in her hands and Xiao Wu joined him with the staring. Grandpa Shan also approved of Xiao Wu for my cousin, and he said perhaps this was heaven's way of making amends for the tragedy of uncle Hao. As such, after that run in with her brother, Er Ming, it was agreed upon in the clan to make sure no one would ever harm the two great powers in Star Dou forest, specifically those brothers of Xiao Wu, and anytime we would wish to hunt for spirit beasts for any of our family then we would first let the masters of the forest know of our intentions.

It was a small price to pay to ensure we didn't offend such strong powers—and it was only right to extend such courtesy to our would be family. That last part generated a lot of weird topics with the elders though, to consider ourselves family to spirit beasts that is. Father fully supported the idea given auntie Ah Yin's situation, but it was still a matter for the future.

"And to think it is something so haughty as to be called the Queen's Guard," he continued. "Perhaps it should be renamed to a Wife's Honor instead."

He laughed some more, the mirth echoing in the small dining hall and teacher Zhao joined in on the jeering.

I slumped against the table face down. "Please don't start with this grandpa." Him being obnoxious like this reminded me of the shame I'd felt when I was younger whenever my family did something weird in front of my classmates, and it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"I see now where little Jin gets it," boss Dai said.

Zhuqing groaned.

The girl seems to have warmed up after finally letting it out. Besides, everyone already knew they were involved anyway, just not to that extent. I'd admit I was a little surprised, had I known what their backgrounds were though I would've been able to put two and two together. But instead I got it the other way around, learning first of their relation before their families.

They couldn't be just normal people that was for sure. Only prominent families like spirit master sects or royalty did such an archaic practice, and for boss Dai to so easily spend on luxuries without a care could either be attributed to his own winnings in the spirit arena or old money.

Stories and boasts were passed around with the teachers acting very familiarly with my grandpas together with an inappropriate amount of alcohol so early in the morning. And it wouldn't be a stretch to say they'd probably met before. We'd been gone for a few months back in the mountains before after all. That much time was just perfect for getting to know everyone.

Oscar and Hongjun stuffed themselves silly since it was my grandpas' treat, and sure we were in hiding, but that didn't mean we'd completely given up on our investments. On the contrary, we were invested in quite a few ventures thanks to aunt Yuehua's efforts and connections.

Flender kept pouring for grandpa Shan, and not one for ceremony the two really got around to drinking as much as they could. Only grandpa Lin and uncle Xiaogang kept the voice of reason in the hall.

Rongrong finished her soup and set down her bowl. "Jin," she said, "how come your grandpas are here?"

I shook my head. "I can only assume they'd been nearby all this time, probably been keeping watch over us even as far back as when we first enrolled."

She rolled her eyes—then stopped and widened them. "So that time with the ant nest?"

Xiao Wu stiffened for a bit but returned to her skewers.

"Ah, well, that one." I couldn't exactly say something like, oh that was just a mistake with Xiao Wu's giant ape brother and Tang San's dad saved us all. "Probably that they were ready to step in if any of our lives would be endangered. And I guess that explains how I was able to absorb"—nice save, me— "that rank exceeding ring safely."

Rongrong agreed to that and left the matter for a small cup of wine, which boss Dai was already knocking back one after the other with Zhuqing berating him with every gulp. It was only a matter of time now before everyone found out about their engagement.

Xiao Wu took that chance to sit next to me.

"Tang San still doesn't know, yes?"

"Our lips are sealed," I said. "And besides, we understand the necessity of secrets."

She let out a breath. "I'm taking you at your word, alright?"

"I mean it when I call you sister you know," I said. "If and when you marry cousin San, then we'd be in-laws by then, though it'd be pretty funny to one day literally be able to call myself a monkey's uncle."

Xiao Wu pinched me. "Shut it." She groaned. "And Er Ming is an ape, don't insult him with that."

I was about to explain myself about the idiom when I remembered I haven't revealed myself as a reincarnator yet. I bet it would make for an interesting story someday, but right now they'll probably just dismiss it as me pulling their legs. Except grandpa Shan and Lin, maybe. They'd probably believe me.

"I wasn't insulting you brother," I said, "it was an amusing thought in case he ever had a monkey for a child, after all, you were a rabbit and you still called him brother."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not how it works."

Oh, believe me I know for a fact that I know jack shit about any of this spirit master shit. "You never know, there are so many mysteries in this world after all."

Xiao Wu looked at me funny.

#

Breakfast ended after a solid two or so hours, I kinda lost count. The clean up was phenomenal and the bill, enormous. It barely made a dent on my occasional earnings by the city so it wasn't so bad, and at least everyone was happy enough. Would've been nicer though if Tang San was there, but for him to take so much time meant this last project of his was sure to be exceptional.

Intoxication from alcohol could be taken care of with some spirit power, and a nice workout after a hearty meal was the way to go. Hongjun and Oscar were fighting against Zhuqing and Rongrong, and Xiao Wu was sitting by the sidelines.

That left me to face off with boss Dai.

But before that, grandpas Shan and Lin took me aside.

"I see you've gotten around to unleashing the seals on your rings," grandpa Lin said. "And you're now at the late thirties?"

I nodded. "I don't know about any seals on my rings, but uncle Xiaogang had a theory that my abilities were too weak for thousand year rings. I took him up on that and meditated, and lo and behold, my abilities improved after a few days of whatever it was I did."

Grandpa Shan nodded with pride. "Hmm, it took longer than I expected, but at least you didn't suffer any ill effects?"

"If you don't count causing a forest fire, then no. It was a lot easier than I thought. Ah, and I'm already at the thirty-seventh rank after my meditations."

"Good, good." Grandpa Lin stroked his beard. "Would you let your spirits out? I wish to see that state of your rings, we wouldn't want any trouble with some partially undone seals."

I summoned my Crown and Hammer, and the world came alive with a thousand more colors and sounds and sensations. My Hammer was about the size of my torso now and the handle just as long. I could now wield it with both hands if I so chose.

Grandpa Shan stepped closer, humming. "Yes," he said. "Very good."

Grandpa Lin raised a brow at him and took a good long look at each of my rings as a sensation of spirit power washed over me. He was checking something with his senses, perhaps at my cultivation or something.

Another minute of scrutiny passed until grandpa Lin stopped his probing. "Nothing seems to be wrong," he said. "But we'll still keep watch during this next bout, I'm not completely sure yet whether you've really assimilated your power fully, and if you have, I'd rather you not accidentally hurt your friends."

"You don't make a lot of those after all," grandpa Shan added.

I glared at him.

"But at least this means you can better protect your future wife," he said with a smile.

I groaned.

"And truly, Xiaogang is worthy of being hailed as the foremost theoretical master when it comes to spirits," grandpa Lin said. "He may not have known of the Refining Method's manner, but he was able to deduce as much from observing your progress."

"Well, wouldn't it be obvious though if I wasn't able to output as much from my rings?"

Grandpa Shan chuckled. "And how many have you seen bring up such a matter?"

I raised a finger. Precisely only for uncle. "Fair enough, but anyone could've said that."

"And yet no one did," grandpa Lin added.

"Only because I asked uncle," I said.

"And that," grandpa Shan said, "is why we elders truly approve of Grandmaster. He is not afraid to be wrong, and he is also not afraid of the unknown."

I nodded. It was a little strange here how so few dared to experiment, but I guess it made sense coming from the standpoint that cultivation could easily affect the future life and prospects of any spirit master. It would've been difficult then to gain any willing volunteers to test out any theories.

And it wasn't like metaphysics was a thing all cultures developed.

Grandpa Shan did his scheming smile. "If you lose this exchange of pointers with the little tiger then I'll get Yuehua to arrange a meeting with the Seven Treasure sect for when you all arrive in Heaven Dou city."

Grandpa Lin didn't stop him.

I glared at him. "Grandpa Lin, weren't you supposed to be the responsible one here?"

But the old man only shrugged. "The sooner we can find a future wife for you the sooner I can be at ease, your personality isn't exactly the easiest to get along with."

"Hey!"

"But from what I've seen, Rongrong suits you perfectly, and even your spirits would benefit a lot from each other. Your Crown's detriments, her Pagoda's improvements, and your own Hammer's formidable might would ensure stability for both our sects in the future."

Grandpa Shan nodded. "And her father supports this, even if you are younger by two years."

"Especially because you're younger by two years," grandpa Lin added.

"What, is that also a thing here?"

"I'm sorry?" grandpa Shan said.

"No, its because you should grow soon enough with your next ring," grandpa Lin added. "I believe your next one should finally allow your body to mature to better accommodate your powers."

I shrugged. "Staying small isn't so bad for a few more years."

"I don't think you'll still be able to say that once you see her get her next ring as well," grandpa Shan said with a sleazy grin.

"Bah!" I waved my hands at his face. "Wait, you both knew about our plans to go to Heaven Dou?"

Grandpa Shan shrugged. "We have our ways."

I stared at him. "No you don't. You both have been just nearby all this time."

He looked away. "Whatever gave this brat that idea?"

Grandpa Lin shook his head.

"And how come only now?"

At that grandpa Lin raised a brow. "Because a certain troublesome child finally figured out how to undo what his grandpas did to keep him from hurting himself."

"Ah," I said. "Does that mean you'll be staying with us from now on then?"

Grandpa Shan sighed. "Unfortunately, we shouldn't. Try as we might, your grandpa Lin and I cannot completely conceal the fact that we are Titled Douluos. Our very auras give us away, and even if we hid our presence, anyone good enough to see through that would only invite questions about your group. It is still safer to be away from you for a while longer."

"Who knew you could be reasonable too when you felt like it."

"Hey!" the old man said with indignation.

"Aiyah," grandpa Lin said.

"And what about that matter with the Continental Academy competition thing? I'm not so in favor of competing in that with Tang San and Xiao Wu."

The two nodded. "We both agree with that assessment as well, but your uncle Hao has given his approval, so we believe he will be nearby in case any trouble comes up."

"But, wouldn't that make us three targets in Spirit Hall's eyes?"

Grandpa Lin pursed his lips. "Only if any of your secrets are revealed."

"Eh, that's not really anything new I guess," I said.

"And you can't deny three spirit bones aren't worth that risk, yes?" grandpa Shan added.

"Fair enough."

"But at least you've already given one to Rongrong," he continued. "That saves us a great deal of trouble."

#

We returned to the makeshift battle grounds and the four earlier were now taking a break. Rongrong said that Xiao Wu went ahead to bring Tang San his food and a fresh change of clothes. The dean, teacher Zhao, uncle and the other teachers were also by the sides to watch.

Mubai stood in front of me with his arms crossed.

He nodded to me and I nodded back.

"To think you'd catch up to me so soon," he said with a fierce smile. "I wouldn't have expected any less from the Clear Sky sect."

Grandpa Shan cheered loudly from the sides. "That's my grandson!"

"And I doubt you have any less impressive of a background, boss Dai."

He laughed and brought out his spirit, three rings floating behind him, two yellow and one purple, as his body enlarged together with his claws and zx stripes of black appeared in his hair. "Dai Mubai, rank thirty-ninth battle spirit master, Evil Eyes White Tiger." He humphed. "Don't hold anything back."

I nodded. To show him any less than my all would be an insult. I brought out my Crown and Hammer, the long handle I rested against my back.

"It's much larger now," uncle Xiaogang said. "Quite an improvement."

"Size doesn't matter!" Hongjun said with a snicker.

Rongrong and Oscar laughed and Zhuqing showed her displeasure at them but a timely glare from the dean stopped the free-range chicken's potty mouth.

I held my hammer parallel to the ground and reared it back. "Tang Jin, rank thirty-seventh control and battle spirit master, Amber Crown and Clear Sky Hammer."

A breeze blew past between us.

"Begin," the dean said.

Boss Dai's yellow ring shone as light condensed in his mouth.

I activated Shock and shot my Domain straight for him. In all the fighting I'd been doing lately, most of them fell into large group battles where my Domain had to be stretched to its full range. Doing so was a lot slower than simply deploying it towards a singular direction since I had to scatter my spirit power over a wider area.

But for a spar like this, I could launch it as fast as I could think it.

The light from boss Dai shot out like a bolt of burning power and was soaked in my Domain due to its straight line nature. Shock weakened its powers on top of electrocuting boss Dai.

I dodged the slowed down light wave—which didn't actually move at the speed of light—with a quick sideways hop, and unleashed a Bullet with a big swing

The black bolt shot towards boss Dai who was already caught in my domain.

Both a yellow and his purple ring shone and his spirit force swelled together with his muscles just in time for him to swat away the Bullet into an unsuspecting tree.

He charged towards me, albeit slower than I pegged him for, and I activated Thunder Heart Strike as I spun into the first and second swings of the Disorder Splitting Wind method using both hands, only to meet his fist head on with the third.

Our strikes connected.

And he was thrown back from the collision as lightning erupted from my Hammer.

He rolled away and stood back up, his yellow and purple rings still shining. Boss Dai's spirit power swelled some more and dispelled the lightning wrapped around his body.

"Always with so many surprises," he said with a wince. After all, all this time he'd been fighting under my domain and even after that use of Thunder Heart Strike, I was still quite well off in terms of capacity.

That's when I turned on Corrode and Devour together with Shock.

His face contorted into one of pain. "You haven't been using your other abilities?" he said as he charged again.

His yellow ring shone and another Light Wave flew my way only to be hampered so much by my domain that it almost didn't reach me.

Just as he was about to pounce, I hopped away from him, taking care to always be away of arm's reach. He was good with straight line charges, but with his lack of knowledge of proper footwork and martial arts, he didn't do too well against offensive lateral movements.

I kept dodging his monstrous strength, and even at mid-range I was safe thanks to my domain bleeding away the power from his ranged attacks. I held the advantage for now, but to have all three Crown abilities turned on without any support from Rongrong or Oscar was a heavy burden to bear.

Boss Dai kept chasing and lunged.

I side-stepped to dodge—but it was actually a feint, and he charged in that small lapse in judgement when I stumbled from the trick.

He opened his arms wide to catch me.

I activated Mantle and swung sideways.

Boss Dai met my attack with both arms crossed.

He was pushed back with his legs gouging the ground beneath him and I spun into a second hit as I activated Thunder Heart Strike.

But a Light Wave too fast to dodge hit my back and I fell forward to a face full of dirt.

Not one to give up, I changed the target of my strike to the ground instead.

The earth exploded to a shower of lightning and dirt, and I was thrown away from boss Dai.

Mantle protected me from most of the self-inflicted damage, though the cut to my spirit power was starting to get to me. I landed on the ground and rolled back into a stance.

But boss Dai was already half-way up to me when I saw him.

I let go of my Hammer but did not dispel it, and kept Mantle up despite its consumption.

He lunged forward with a fist and I stepped into his guard and opened with an uppercut.

Boss Dai bobbed his head left to dodge, and his other hand hooked for my head. We exchanged blows without hitting each other, always just dodging by a hair's breadth. But the few wild swings he first gave me were eventually replaced with more calculated strikes, and each one inched closer and closer to hitting me.

And then, he landed on his butt—his spirit already dispelled and the guy was panting hard.

"Eh?"

"Eh your face little Jin." He chuckled weakly. "That domain of yours is still annoying after all." His clothes were ragged and every part of him was drenched in sweat.

"I won?"

"Yes," the dean said as he passed teacher Zhao some coins. "Little Jin, you indeed won."

I was still sitting at thirty-four percent spirit power, and though the feeling made me sick, the clarity from my Crown kept me going despite the consumption. I'd really been spoiled for too long by Rongrong and Oscar, to fight again on my own like this really had the monstrous hunger of the Clear Sky Hammer reiterated, and to keep using my abilities without pause was something I needed to remember my Absolutes for. It's just that using them in a fight was easier said than done.

And with that, I knew now the next direction of my training until my fourth ring.

"I still say we meet the family," grandpa Shan said from the side.

#

The fight ended with my win but the next few after that I found difficult if I didn't have enough time to recover spirit power in between. I still had the advantage of being able to replenish myself quick thanks to Devour, but that still didn't mitigate my consumption. Once lunch time rolled around, people started calling it quits with all the fighting so I had some more time to kill.

My grandpas were planning to stay with us for two days before they returned to whatever hole they hid themselves in. I figured it'd be best to get some pointers from them with how to better handle the Earthly Realm techniques of our Clear Sky Absolutes in battle. That last fight with boss Dai reminded me of how difficult it was to fight without the help of an auxiliary spirit master—and I guess it reminded me as well as to just why my family was so adamant about Rongrong.

"Heh," grandpa Shan was all smug. "So now you come to us to ask for the Absolutes?"

Grandpa Lin tsked at him. "Don't mind him little Jin, now remind your grandpa which techniques you already know of?"

The Clear Sky Absolutes were nine self-created spirit abilities exclusive to the Clear Sky Hammer, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that our renown as the number one sect owed its reputation to these techniques. There were three levels, the Earthly, Heavenly, and Void realms. In theory, anyone with the Clear Sky Hammer could use all three techniques, its just that the backlash with trying out the stronger techniques were more dangerous. With enough skill, the Heavenly realm techniques were manageable, but the Void realm was safest only with Titled Douluo level strength.

I summoned my Hammer and held the half as large as me spirit in one hand.

The Earthly realm techniques were: Flow, Growth, and Undertow. Flow was the practice of quickly pushing and pulling away of spirit power from the Hammer, it allowed us to manage the weight while swinging and attacking. Less weight meant the hammer was easier to manuever, and more weight meant it could hit harder.

I pushed spirit power into my Hammer and let it grow as I erupted into the first swing of Disorder Splitting Wind, on the recovery phase after the down swing, I pulled spirit power from the Hammer and held it in my hand to allow me more control and stepped forward to add more leverage before growing my Hammer again into a second down swing.

I kept up the exercise I got used to doing to practice the two main techniques—and on the fourth swing, I willed spirit power to collect on the Hammer head and pushed even further out as a black trail was left behind from the swinging.

Successive swings also meant more and more power accumulating from the constant leveraging of force.

"You can stop now little Jin," grandpa Lin said.

And not one to waste accumulated power, I summoned a Bullet and shot it up into the sky with one last baseball swing. The rumbling my spirit power thundered with was music to my ears.

Then grandpa Lin cuffed me. "Why were you moving around while doing the Disorder Splitting Wind?"

I scratched my smarting head. "Because if I don't then I'll get hit. It's not like someone will just let me wail on them because I'm doing something cool!'

Grandpa Lin snorted. "Bah, that's because you're not using it correctly." He shook his head. "You're not supposed to use this technique in battle until after you've mastered the Earthly and Heavenly techniques."

"Well, that explains a lot." It did leave me wondering just how useful of a technique this was when most of the time I was caught having to store power or reneged to a ranged attacker using my Bullets, and at worst trying to fight head-to-head like I did with boss Dai earlier.

"Indeed," grandpa Shan said with a sigh. "No wonder you've been getting injured so many times, as bright as you sometimes are, you also come up with equally as many stupid ideas."

"Mistake is the mother of success!"

"Assuming you learned from them." Grandpa Lin shook his head. "However, it's not like you're not worthy of praise, your use of the Method in that spar was rather good considering how much you are capable of."

"Thank you."

"But it leaves a lot to be desired," Grandpa Shan added. "And your Undertow needs a lot more work. How come you only used it on the fourth swing? And why continuously after that?"

I was about to say something but no good ideas came out. "I just felt it, I guess."

Grandpa Shan hummed. "The best use of Undertow is during the attacking swings or mid-recovery to throw your opponent off-balance or reposition them. Your Flow and Growth are also adequate, though I'd prefer if you can do both of them faster."

"A passable proficiency with Flow and Growth is to be able to increase your hammer to twice its size in a second, and to reach a thousand jin as well in that time. If you can achieve both, then you can say that you've mastered those two techniques. Undertow is easy enough, but you must be able to release the aura to thrice the volume of your hammer head as well as to be able to release it from any time during your swings or even as you grow your hammer."

They gave me a few exercises like the Flour Trail drill we did for the Undertow technique which generated attractive paths of the aura, and something I used to do back in the sect. Though this time the challenge was to pull the flour from a pile on the ground as opposed to just making the flour cloud stay in the air. Still, that was supposedly the easiest to do of the three, but the hardest to use in battle. They also gave me this thing I liked to call Water Golf where I had to hit water from a stream into a bucket with a hole at the bottom some ten paces away from me. The goal was to learn how to best time the mass and size changing of the Hammer in order to best get as much water as possible to fly as well as follow-through with the flight, its challenge then was in developing the proficiency to do the transfers quickly as well as the timing with when best to erupt with force.

After they demonstrated the exercises, the only thing on my mind was that I still had so much to learn.


	32. Chapter 32

Whoever said size didn't matter obviously never got to feel the glory of swinging a hammer twice as large as them. And with such a large weapon, the stance naturally had to change as well, and what better stance to use than Monster Hunter's absurd but more or less passable idea of martial arts.

Well, okay, no, it didn't pass at all since it threw the weight off wrong but it was a good enough base to start from.

Besides the exercises my grandpas taught me, I also made a point to learn how to fight with a larger hammer. My spirit rings would only continue to increase in number from here on out, and with it came the possibility to more easily shift in size between those unlocked by our rings.

The point of Growth was to further increase the size of the Hammer beyond its limits, and it was best used between ranks thirty to sixty. Any rank above that and the Clear Sky Hammer was already able to attain the size of a small house or a small building depending on how much spirit power someone had, and if grandpa Shan was to be believed, at Titled Douluo level, it was even possible to grow our hammer so large as to smash a goddamn mountain with it. That was apparently how grandpa Huang got his title of Mountain Breaker Douluo.

Gee, whoever could've figured that out.

Normally, an absurdly large hammer would be impossible to swing, much less hold but to us wielders of the Clear Sky Hammer, it felt lighter than it actually was, and that was important since the average weight of a Hammer without spirit rings was already at about forty jin or approximately twenty kilograms. And to a five to six year old child, at least how I remember it, it was a bit like swinging around a big ass rock on a stick, heavy but not impossible. And now that I had three rings on it, I wasn't so sure anymore since my sense of scale has already been messed up by my strength.

At most, I could say this probably weighed around the same as, oh I don't know, maybe a sink attached to a stick? Really, weight just feels off with otherworldly spirit power infused musculature.

My grandpas left us yesterday and after the morning spars we'd all split up to do our own things. I was doing much better now on my own thanks to unlocking the full might of my spirit rings, though making sure no one got hurt was a lot harder when fighting my fellow students. Teacher Zhao though, he could take it—but the guy had a tendency to hit back at times when I got him good. He at least takes care not to injure, but it can be surprising how much damage a spirit master's body could take before really getting hurt.

And I don't know about the others, but all these constant beatings from that bear of a man was either getting me inured to the pain or more resilient to the damage. Spirit power also helped to heal injuries, and as a spirit master, almost everything that didn't kill us made us stronger one way or another, some physically, some spiritually, and some even more mysteriously than others.

The world of spirits, spirit beasts, and cultivation was so much bigger than any of us understood.

That same mystery was what made unravelling its secrets that much more satisfying. Perhaps there was a way to cheese the system somehow? No doubt my and Tang San's, alleged, reincarnation were examples of those, but I was sure there were other more available means out there. Maybe some plants or fruits or animals that could be eaten to boost one's cultivation, or even some ritual to perform to get an obtainable external power, hell, even divine blessings or what have you.

Anything was possible.

I lifted my Hammer that was as tall as me now with its head equivalent to my torso. I took a golf stance and aimed right by the water's edge—taking care to gauge the distance to the bucket just a few paces away from me.

I lightened it as a reared back, now as if swinging a baseball bat made of aluminum instead of one made of lead. Yeah, weight just didn't translate well anymore for me.

I begin the swing with an explosion of spirit power into my arms before I passed it all into my Hammer and the thing grew heavier and heavier as I guided it into a graceful swing that would've turned a person into mush.

The head made contact with the water and a sizeable splash jumped out as a I lightened the hammer again before finishing my follow-through. All that spirit power flowed seamlessly but my energy channels were already burning by the time I finished that one swing. That was the main problem with performing Flow. The more spirit power passed through a channel in some short time frame, the more strain it received. It was basically a more esoteric version of Ohm's law and it made sense on some visceral level.

Titled Douluos like my grandpas had a shit ton of spirit power, and their abilties naturally output more power at any given time than anything I could ever come up with with my measly thirty-seventh rank spirit power. So how was it that those guys didn't go up in flames every time they used any of their spirit abilties, or at least suffered damage from their own powers.

Easy, it's that more spirit rings nourished the body.

I'd already felt it before, with how I grew taller with every ring I got as well as with how each ring facilitated the ability to gather more spirit power. So with an analog such as Ohm's law, I figured there were probably other ways to get around my current issue of having too weak energy channels.

If I remember correctly, voltage was equal to current times resistance. And going with this logic, how much spirit power I could push out was the current, and the voltage would be the actual output of spirit power. The resistance then was something I can assume to be constant. Meaning I only needed to push more spirit power out to be able to output more powerful techniques—but, this ran into the problem of causing me damage.

To reduce then the resistance was something I needed to achieve in order to output more power for less effort.

Which brings me back then to the crux of my problem: how the hell was I going to reduce the resistance in my energy channels?

Again, the easiest answer would be to get another spirit ring, and barring that, there was practice. Practice to get my energy channels more used to dealing with more spirit power, and assuming there really was no better way to do that then at least some way to get around the limitations of my resistance.

Even after two days of practicing this exercise, I still wasn't getting any good results. Though by good here I was hoping for something like being able to fill the goddamn bucket in one swing. But the very physics of water denied that, and to make use of Undertow to guide the water first meant I needed to be direct the Clear Sky Hammer's aura to be inside the bucket.

Neither of those were achievable unless I cheated myself, and that would defeat the point of doing the exercise in the first place.

I sat down and circulated spirit power to nourish my still burning channels. Figuring out how to make my Hammer grow fast in the span of a second was easy enough, but doing any more than that made it painful to keep going. I couldn't properly use any of my abilities or retract the infused spirit power as fast, and to dispel my hammer when it was so saturated would end up wasting the stored power.

Good thing I was at least able to show my grandpas that pain problem though since otherwise I might've caused myself some permanent damage had I kept going and ignored the warning signs.

The cycling of spirit power eased the pain in my arms as I slowly allowed the energy to pass back and forth to soothe the burning. It was a little strange to have spirit power repair the same areas it damaged, so I guess there must be a difference between spirit power used this way.

And now that I got to think about it, how was it exactly that spirit power could originate anyway? Usually it'd come from any of the chakras for me, the easiest to use being the sacral chakra that sits at the base of the navel—it was also where the energy would settle using the cultivation method grandpa Shan showed me before, and the same one as well that Tang San did for my raging spirit power. Although his traced a different path through my body.

Grandpa Shan's method was a clockwise sort of rotation of energy that, for lack of a better term, washed over my insides like the hands of a clock. Tang San's on the other hand, traced paths that radiated outward from the dantian or sacral chakra towards the limbs, and in some way I guess the advantage to that was it was more focused using a more natural path.

My method, on the other hand, completely focused on rotating the energies through just the chakras. Energy was absorbed from outside the body through the skin as well as in the breath and from there I'd pull it all into the first chakra and cycle it through all seven before storing in my spirit.

I've already changed over to the same pathways Tang San used before, but every now and then I'd still switch over to my own method since it wasn't something wrong per se. And had they not asked me to stop my cultivation to stabilize my foundations for five years, I had no doubt I would've been at a much higher rank than even Tang San.

But, I knew now that had I continued using my own way, then I might be such a glass cannon that I wouldn't even be able to bear the backlash of burning my own energy channels.

It was a chilling thought, but all still speculation.

The burning finally stopped. I stood up and took my position once more. This was probably going to take all night again.

#

"Little Jin," Rongrong said, "why do you look like a mess?" She was half-smiling and half-worried over her bowl of porridge and boiled eggs.

I wanted to just bury my face in the food but that would've been a horrible waste. "I was up all night trying to master one of our clan's techniques." I didn't bother with the spoon anymore and straight up downed the soup and porridge.

Hongjun probably gained some sort of insight from that because he followed what I did and asked for seconds right after. Oscar next to him was nursing a beard but was more or less eating his food in peace. More or less because he kept flailing a sausage in front of boss Dai who wasn't having any of his shit.

What's surprising though was Zhuqing was sitting next to me and Rongrong and as far away as possible from Mubai—who looked like he was about to tear off Oscar's head.

"Tang San is still holed up in his forge?" I cycled spirit power to aid my digestion, and doing this same thing worked wonders for anything bad I was feeling. Headache from whatever? Cycle some spirit power. Loose bowel movement? Even more spirit power. Social guilt over having more than platonic feelings for a kid despite having a mental age of over thirty?

Well, nothing could fix that, but cultivating sure as hell distracted me from it.

"Yes," Rongrong said with a sigh. "Those hidden weapons he made for us before were already so good, I'm so excited now to find out what he's making that it sometimes makes it hard to sleep."

I shrugged. "Knowing him, there's a possibility we won't get to use those weapons—and if possible I'd prefer he never use them on me either."

Rongrong laughed like a tinkling silver bell. "I think I'd like to see that."

I groaned. "There was no end to those annoying things when we were younger, every day it'd be these kinds of knives or those kinds of needles. It wasn't fun one bit to get pelted by those sharp things."

And still she kept laughing. Zhuqing started chuckling next to her.

"You used to be Tang San's pin cushion?" Oscar asked with a snicker.

"I sometimes still am," I said. "More spirit power means I can better resist his weapons, and my Honored Any Mantle is something Tang San has had the pleasure of enjoying far too many times to count within these last few weeks." It was the reason why I could use it as well as I did in the short time I've had it. Tang San just loved throwing pointy shit at stuff, and having a—mostly—willing target was somethng he'd never pass off on.

And it's not like I didn't gain any benefits either, since it did help me train my reflexes and resistance to getting stabbed. Though it really only worked on non spirit related origins of said stabbing.

Xiao Wu entered the little hut with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Speaking of Tang San," I said. "Any signs of him finishing soon, big sis?"

The girl shook her head. "He hasn't said anything, and I'm a little worried, but he doesn't seem to be in ill health."

"Are all the men in the Clear Sky sect that stubborn?" Mubai said.

"I'm not stubborn!"

Everyone there glared at me.

"Wait, I am?" But I was like the epitome of flexibility and acceptance! "That can't be right."

"You can be very _very_ pushy," Rongrong said.

"Eh?"

"Spirit bone?" Zhuqing said.

"Ah."

"And don't forget when he's out stealing the poor livelihood of those unsuspecting merchants," added Hongjun.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone barter gold for rice in such a highhanded manner," Oscar said with a sigh.

"If I didn't know you I might've mistaken you for the child of our dean with how much of a miser you are," Hongjun offered.

"Who was a miser?"

We all looked behind us and saw the dean with the other teachers and uncle. "Looks like my cute disciple needs some more pointers then?"

Breakfast finished, and fatty almost learned how to fly, but he was still too heavy to make any leeway with that so the dean settled for the next best thing: juggling the poor schmuck in mid-air. It was almost pitiful really, but I was sure the ancestors of past chickens could fly, so maybe he'd have unlocked some sort of genetic memory or something and have gained the ability, but he didn't have such good luck.

Rongrong and I were to face off with boss Dai and Oscar this time around, and as someone who's learned his lesson from last time, I knew better now how to best leverage my abilities. Or at least try something else that could work.

"Begin," uncle said from the side.

With that I immediately swept Rongrong off her feet and made a mad dash for the woods while extending my spirit power behind me to envelop Oscar and boss Dai.

"Running away like a coward!" boss Dai said with indignation as he chased after us together with Oscar running using his spider legs.

"Nobody ever said escaping from the ring was against the rules!"

Rongrong sighed but didn't resist my taking her away.

"Teacher! Little Jin is trying to elope with Rongrong!" Hongjun shouted out with a sleazy grin as he chased after us as well.

Uncle on the other hand, rode San Pao to keep up. "You're not wrong little Jin, but know that this little tactic of yours will not be allowed next time."

Rongrong boosted me with all three of her support abilties and her spirit bone, as I activated all three of my Crown's abilities on our opponents.

"This is way too cheap even for you!" boss Dai said. Light Waves flew after us one after another but under the combined boost of Rongrong's abilties and spirit bone and my own power, none of them even reached.

"Using my hammer's too hard right now," I said as I hopped between trees and always further away from the two.

Running free in a forest was one of the few joys I had in this new world, and with the addition of spirit power and some balls, learning how to run among the treetops wasn't too hard or dangerous. I felt like a fucking ninja running away with the princess as the bad guys chased after us.

The fight then—if it could even be called that—was whether my and Rongrong's combined abilities could drain the two of them faster than Oscar could sustain him and boss Dai and outlast us. His sausages would always keep replenishing boss Dai, and his eight-links were what made me eat a few Light Waves to the butt.

And still on the chase went, going for a full ten or so minutes before boss Dai finally ran out of spirit power and our paired buff and debuff strategy won in a very satisfying way.

"Unconventional," uncle said.

San Pao was carrying boss Dai's sorry ass back to the village next to us while I carried Oscar on my back.

"And intelligent!"

Rongrong pinched my side. "Embarrassing."

"Annoying," Oscar concluded with a groan.

#

Like that, the rest of the month would pass without me making any significant progress with figuring out how to better manage my spirit power. I tried consulting with uncle whether he knew of any methods to better improve energy circulation but it was something he'd never had any good luck with figuring out either. At most, he could only offer the same path I'd already considered before, which was basically to train until I got used to the level of power I wanted to be able to output.

I wasn't looking for a shortcut per se, but it was a smarter way of tackling a problem as opposed to the usual blockheaded way of pushing through with force. If one way didn't work, then most likely there was a more elegant solution to the problem. What made it difficult to do my own tests though was the lack of knowledge on the matter, not the dean, or uncle, or even our sect knew of any ways to improve the body save for the absorption of spirit rings.

To experiment then would mean to completely tackle the unknown, and save for a few widely known ones like Snow Lotus fruits and Dragon Zoysia leaves which I'd already gotten my hands on, the few still out there were usually obtainable only in small quantities for absurd prices and wouldn't do much for cultivation above the twentieth rank.

And as an avid gamer myself in my previous life, I knew for a fact that this shouldn't be true. Or at least, I hoped it wasn't. Because really, even in my old life, there existed materials that the people of before only assumed existed in myths. Things like aerogels and space age alloys, even polymers that could be used for undersea vessels.

All of it was basically magic to the alchemists and druids and priests who didn't know any better.

It was just my luck then how I didn't have the knowledge to identify and craft materials using crazy stuff like diamonds or whatever, but its not like I could cram all the intricacies of the collective knowledge of the world into my head. I was just one guy and even if I read up on a lot of topics about all sorts of crap for my writing, one person still wasn't enough to bring forth a golden age of technology.

Water Golf and sparring. These two things would fill up the rest of the month until one fine morning during breakfast…

"Ge," Xiao Wu said, "you be sure to eat as much as you need to alright?"

I found Tang San eating breakfast with Xiao Wu, his body a lot more chiseled than I last remembered. His limbs were like coiled springs, the sinews beneath all ready to erupt at a moment's notice, and I couldn't help but compare my noodle arms to his.

"Hey cousin," I greeted. "Glad to have you back." I nodded as well to Xiao Wu and took the further table.

Tang San wouldn't have minded me joining them, but I knew well enough how to read the mood. Xiao Wu needed her couple time. And yeah, it was pretty weird to be saying that but I guess the two of them were probably both old enough to know about those things.

Xiao Wu gave me a thumbs up from behind.

People trickled in, boss Dai, Zhuqing, Oscar, Hongjun, and Rongrong, then the teachers and breakfast was a bit more normal now compared to the rowdier ones when Tang San wasn't here. Everyone could more or less read the mood between the two, and no one wanted to intrude on that little corner of happiness.

Rongrong settled next to me with her plate of food. "Should we ask him now about his last project?"

"Eh," I said, "we've already waited two months for whatever he had to show, another day or two wouldn't hurt."

Turned out we never got to see them in action since Tang San said they were too precious to use on a demonstration. All that metal I gave him, about two carriages worth of goods, all turned into these twelve pairs of matte black metal balls he called Cluster Soul Chasing Balls. He also had this thing that looked like an all metal flashlight he called a Big Dipper Crushing Lance which he held with an almost hallowed reverence.

Not one to rain on his parade, I just assumed it was some deadly shit.

And hopefully the kind of deadly shit I'd only get to see and not feel the effecots for first hand.

That morning went by quick and the announcement to move to Heaven Dou empire couldn't have come sooner. Flender originally wanted to sell the land back to the village, but I offered him a bigger sum instead to move the ownership to me. Another hideout was always nice to have, and since I'd already begun processing the farmlands here, I figured might as well go all the way with it.

My grandpas ought to figure out what they needed to do with this place soon enough.

With that matter settled, we all broke into a run straight for the capital. As spirit masters and ones who had but up enough strength over the years or had come from good backgrounds, we all more or less had our own spirit tools so packing away was as simple as cleaning up.

We all packed light anyway, as people who were constantly in conflict—at least I wish I didn't turn out that way—we all knew better than to have too many material attachments.

The dean lead our group onwards, with uncle riding San Pao, and everyone else running on their own. Going by foot was much faster and cheaper, and since it was Flender leading the way, of course he wouldn't even consider hiring a carriage.

By my estimate, we'd reach the capital in as little as over a week with a relaxed pace, and as little as five days if we didn't bother with stopping over any major areas. We weren't in a rush, but we weren't looking to sightsee around either.

The journey—to everyone's surprise—didn't involve any horrible encounters along the way.

I was expecting at least some bandits attacking us or maybe some villages asking for help or something, but since we avoided any major population centers and didn't stick to any of the roads, we practically cut a straight line from our outskirts village and blazed a trail straight for the capital.

Flight was such a powerful ability whether in combat or not, and coupled with Flender's bird spirit's good eyesight, we were able to avoid any issues along the way. Not that anything could get in our way in the first place, but I wasn't willing to tempt fate with that.

Only idiots willingly raised their own death flags.


	33. Chapter 33

We made the trip in five days of hard running and arrived at the capital.

"We shall head straight for the academy," the dean said. His robes were dusted in places and a light sweat was still by his brow, and he wasn't alone with his less than perfect state.

The other teachers all had some manner of dust caked against their skins and patches of sweat here and there. We didn't stop to rest as much as I expected, but at least no one smelled too bad. Hopefully.

Without a chance to bathe the last few days, it was almost a miracle how Rongrong hadn't immediately checked into a hotel herself or gone home for a quick shower once we arrived. Well, bath.

My hair was stuck against my forehead and my skin felt sticky all over. My robes too had that sun dried smell, and the less said about the state of my underpants the better. It had been too long since I'd gone this dirty for so long, not until that last trip to the sea all those years ago.

Seriously, fuck the sea.

"The sooner we can get our accommodations sorted out the better," teacher Zhao added with a huff. With one of the highest ranks in spirit power, he was better off than most of us only surpassed by the dean himself in terms of relative cleanliness.

Rongrong tugged my sleeve and widened her eyes at me. She pursed her lips and gestured at her clothes before sweeping her hand at everyone. She wasn't wrong, unfortunately. Stupid nobles.

"About that," I said.

All eyes went on me.

I continued, "The imperial capital maintains a level of affluence,"—and we all look like shit went unsaid— "and even us honorable spirit masters ought to make ourselves presentable at the very least." Lest we get thrown out, and more importantly, that the matter reached my auntie and she ended up hanging me by my jock straps.

"Hmph, nothing but a few nobles imposing their ideals," Flender said with contempt.

Teacher Zhao cracked his knuckles. "If they have a problem with us, then let them settle it themselves."

I raised a finger. "As someone who's had to skirt the shadows and enjoys the advantages of anonymity, it would be in our best interest not to stir trouble where we are not in a position of surety."

"Bah," the dean said, "has your time with family made you soft little Jin? What was it again that I'd always told you little monsters?"

"Spirit masters who do not look for trouble are no good," boss Dai said.

Rongrong grimaced, and Zhuqing narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sure, and my grandpas weren't Titled Douluos," I added in a flat tone.

Tang San cleared his throat. "I believe little Jin is acting within reason here," he said. "It wouldn't do us well to offend anyone whom we cannot account for."

The dean looked at uncle who gave him a nod.

"Fine," Flender said. "And what would you have us do then?"

I pulled out a small pouch of gold coins. "Worry not everyone, little bro has cash."

I made a considerable fortune from our time in the arena so it wasn't a problem to pay for a day's worth for everyone in a good hotel. And since we were back here, my avenues for making money were also a lot more flexible now. There was the auction house and the markets, and not to mention those underground betting rings I wasn't supposed to go to and the more questionable shops that paid some hefty royalties for anyone willing to transport their goods.

Really, this place was just ripe for the taking.

"Lead the way then," the dean said with a miser's wicked grin.

I asked the teachers to all buy themselves some good clothes, and shot down their prideful retorts with calling it the Clear Sky sect's courtesy. Rongrong's family was also rich enough that this extravagance would've been but a drop in the bucket, but that was her family and not her specifically.

My fellow students however, all had to pay for their own crap.

Rongrong and I led our group to a tailor her family frequented, that way I could maybe bargain for a deal for everyone if I brought in enough business or provided my own materials. It was a quick stroll down the main street and a left near where all the famous restaurants were. The building was a big shop with glass windows by the doors and a fine chandelier of glass pieces as a center piece. It was oppulent and grand, a definite must-see for any noble worth their upper class gossip.

We went in and the people there wasted no time with entertaining us. An uncle inside dressed in a very clean and crisp robe of brown and fine silver trimmings walked up to me.

"Anything we can do for our little master?" He spared no reservations with their hospitality—thanks to the one true passport to and any all sorts of privileges: cold hard cash.

I had my purse out and about as we walked in, and any young boy leading a large entourage was bound to be the little master of some glorious sect. "I would like to purchase some clothes befitting of the capital for my guards, we are expected in the Imperial Academy, and I wouldn't want to be turned away by those city lords." I sighed. "Such arrogance simply because they were born closer to the crown."

The uncle nodded. "Indeed little master, our local lords can indeed be rather disdainful.

"Anything you might recommend then?" I jingled the coins in my pouch. "I would rather prefer we look our best."

"Why, you can never go wrong with silk, of course!" the uncle said. "Nothing but the finest of silks must adorn our honorable spirit masters!" He clapped and some shop assistants came out of a side room with bolts upon bolts of fine cloth in diqfferent colors. "This is our shop's finest and we wouldn't dare offer any less to the proprietors of the Seven Treasure clan."

Rongrong nodded to them and grinned my way. Anyone would probably remember Rongrong's distinctive pink hair. More so if they spent a fortune as well. And I guess when she said frequented, she probably meant she real damn frequent. The other students were already about and looking for their own clothes, and here I was directing the teachers to pair off with some of the assistants, most of them women and in tight clothing. Of course, a place that catered to nobles wouldn't have any less than such an experience to offer.

"Jin!" Rongrong said from all the way at another row of cloths. "Wouldn't you be a dear and get this for me?" She was holding a lavender to pink gradient robe against her and twirling about with it.

I don't know when it happened, but the assistant attending to her already had piles upon piles of clothes against her arms and still the shopaholic didn't stop.

Teacher Zhao, the dean, uncle and the other teachers all had their measurements taken with stiff bodies as the tightly clad women went about their business under the watchful uncle's eye. Zhuqing was glaring at boss Dai all this time, though Tang San wasn't as interested in the fineries as Xiao Wu who went about exploring every nook and corner of the store. Oscar and Hongjun indulged themselves with the ladies as well, and I wasn't adverse either to some fine clothes myself.

"It can only be in one color," the dean said with a flush and a nasty smile.

"You name it, we'll have it by the day if we don't already," the uncle said.

Flender pointed at a bolt of cloth that was collecting dust at a corner.

"This… green is what you wished for?" The tailor asked an assistant to bring it over, and her expression didn't hide the bewilderment at having to retrieve that snot green bolt.

"Indeed," Flender said all pleased with himself.

The look of horror on our girls' and the other ladies present was something legendary.

Uncle Xiaogang didn't give two shits and instructed the lady who was attending to him to get his robes done in brown, and as someone who was not directly under Flender's authority—even if the academy was technically already finished—he didn't need to stick it out with the dean's shit tastes.

I didn't mind wearing that shade of green, but if we became a laughing stock, then it'd make blending in more difficult. "If I may be so bold as to give a few inputs myself?"

We eventually settled for something more manageable, the snot green main color was tempered with some layers of a darker emerald green by the sleeves and lapels and it was all tied together with some goldwork that softened the impact of the harsh hues. I wasn't too well-versed in any particular art style, but I did enjoy the elegance of baroque patterns, so I drew the tailor some samples I remembered.

The robes would be ready in two days even after paying extra to make it a rush order, so in the meantime we also got ourselves some sturdier travelling clothes in the current noble fashion to tide us over for later and the next couple of days, and these ones would only take a few hours for them to alter to the teacher's sizes.

Us students didn't need anything fancy, so we didn't need to buy any more than we already did.

"En," Flender said, "truly a man of many talents this little Jin." He stroked his beard. "Now then, you've already spoiled us all enough with what you've done so far, this lunch I believe we can all take it easy for now and meet back at the hotel to go to the academy later."

Xiao Wu and Rongrong wasted no time with pulling all of us ahead.

#

Being so close to the Seven Treasure sect's home, I had no doubts Rongrong's family guards would be all over her and keeping her and my friends safe. So, as someone who still had a few unfinished things in place, I chose to go alone to do some soul searching in the bustling city life of the capital—and maybe make a few quick bucks.

I changed into some shabbier clothes and went straight for merchant street.

Not a lot of things changed here, and it was still a treat to see so much people at any given place. As much as I loved my peace and quiet, the liveliness of a city was still as infectious as I remembered it from back home. The traffic, the cussing, even the noisy honking and general sounds of life were things I never thought I'd miss and yet here I was hoping I could feel the pettiness of cursing someone out just for cutting in front of me.

It was nostalgia at its finest.

Peddlers sold fruits and vegetables at exorbitant prices compared to the quieter villages, metal was still sold at a premium being so few dared to work with it, woodworks, furniture, every day necessities, all of them exchanged hands every second of every moment as money jumped from hand to hand in the few spans between. I asked around for prices and negotiated for exchanges, memorized what people wanted and where and how much and what kinds and set about my meditation in retail.

All that mindless haggling and buying and selling I did without thinking too much except maximizing my profits.

Coming from the idea that Tang San was also a reincarnator, it made sense then that the magical sorts of crap he could do was from whatever previous life he had just like how my knowledge on science and what not was for me. He could make his hidden weapons, simple lumps of metal, fly in mysterious ways that danced and laughed at the face of modern science and the natural laws.

Was it magic?

Unlikely. And the only other easy explanation was spirit power. The simplest solution wasn't always the correct one, but in this case, that assumption wasn't a stretch. Assuming Tang San's abilities were indeed driven by spirit power, then the guy basically had access to a skill set other than what his spirit rings made available to him.

And this hypothesis was supported by our clan's own Clear Sky Absolutes. What those were were ways to make use of spirit power to better make use of the Hammer, but Tang San's hidden weapons did whatever it was they did without relying on his Blue Silver Grass, so it stood to reason that he didn't need his spirit to do what he did.

Essentially, there was a possibility to develop ways to make use of spirit power in another way other than to simply nourish or reinforce the body be it offensively or some other manner and if Tang San's previous life's skills could make simple metal crap fly like goddamn snakes with wings, then surely I could make some shit up too.

The main point being, how the hell was I gonna manage that without burning out my body in the process.

And considering that, how was it that Tang San didn't seem to encounter that issue—or at least if he did I never noticed. Which probably meant he had something else to him that he did different to me…

And he did have that, specifically, that way he cycled energy in my body all those years ago to keep my spirit power from running amok.

Was that the culprit then?

To constantly cycle energy would lead to better energy channels? It makes sense in context, all things considered. If his method really did make the body more pliable to handling spirit power, then to constantly trace the energy channels with spirit power cycling probably allowed the body to get better used to the strain.

Like training.

Rather, exactly as training. And… did that mean I could manipulate spirit power into other forms as well? I mean, if I could move it, then surely I could shape it as well. Though for any intricacies like with Tang San getting his hidden weapons to fly in expert ways wouldn't be as simple as just pushing spirit power into something and hoping a miracle would happen.

Right?

I sighed and finished up my latest sale: exchanging a few tens of kilograms of wool for half of that in processed iron. All in all I hauled in a butt ton of metals and made a modest profit of fifty-seven gold coins in total, though ending up with about twenty-three kilograms of iron and another seven of tungsten wasn't too bad overall. I wasn't able to get anything special that reacted to my spirit power, but at least I got to finally feel like I was back in my element again. Shopping in Suotuo city just didn't have that same thrill as the capital.

I wasn't even close to done with just this, and my Inventory still had lots of space to spare. I put up my hood to hide my blond hair before going down the alleys and into the less savory parts of the city with an eye for the not as legal. As far as narcotics and substances went, not a lot of people bothered with the stuff, and instead, the real prize here was the unregulated prices where almost anyone could make a mean buck or two.

That, or get away with robbery and theft.

Spirit power fluctuations filled the air and hushed tones echoed along the darker corners of the city's underbelly. It wouldn't be a stretch to get into trouble here, and usually it was uncle Wei who settled my fights for me before. I wasn't stupid enough to expose myself here though, but I wasn't so meek as to just stay out of trouble myself—I just had my priorities on straight.

I walked through the not so crowded streets and saw the most inane prices for the weirdest crap. There were spirit tools and foodstuffs in the craziest price ranges and shapes and sizes. There were tools and knives and swords in different materials and makes, and crystals, ores, and rocks both small and large and all the colors in the rainbow and more. The best of things could be found in these hidden holes, it just took a little bit more skulking around to get anything worthwhile.

I pushed my spirit power to my fingertips to detect for anything that would react to my energy much like I'd found my ring and those pearls before.

I picked up a bluish rock. "How much?" I asked the cloaked peddler.

"Seventy," he said while holding one finger up. One finger meant gold, two meant silver, and nobody bothered with selling for coppers here.

I picked up another few rocks that responded and bunched them all up. A purplish one for seventy, a silvery one for fifty, an orange streaked one for forty-three, and a few others. All of them easily reached a few hundred gold together. After haggling down to about half the price I threw in a jar of black powder to keep the guy happy. Black powder was sought after by the biggest sects to make their fireworks with, and there weren't too many people with the knowhow to create the stuff.

I paid him and hid away my new purchases in Inventory.

These things I found I basically just dumped onto Tang San whenever I came across them in the hopes he might get lucky with something. His strength was my strength, and the better equipped he was then so was I.

There were some bright colored plants and little tiny vials of all manners of liquids, and a few more gold coins and jars of black powder here and there and I was maybe a small apothecary heavier within the span of a few minutes. Poisons and the like were never my forte, though again Tang San simply adored the stuff even if he could already produce his own.

Another thing on my wish list right now was any and all manners of information. It's been a few years since I'd last passed by here, enough time for so many things to have changed.

I walked around some more, sticking to the darker corners and smaller alleys.

In the imperial capital, as common as the big wigs were in the main thoroughfares were they so seldom seen here beneath the light. With me so near the fortieth rank, I was as close to a power here as I got. Spirit masters had a hundred gold stipend from Spirit Hall all the way until the thirtieth rank after all, and only above that did it stop. To most, the incentive was already good enough to go for the hundred and whoever wanted more than that would usually join up with Spirit Hall to benefit from their vast capital.

Pretty much everyone not attached to a sect and didn't care too much for freedom ended up with Spirit Hall.

And they were a thorn to every kingdom and sect's side.

Holding so many spirit masters under their payroll essentially meant Spirit Hall also had the largest deployable militia slash special forces in the entire continent, and naturally anyone with half a brain wouldn't dare underestimate just how much those assholes had upfront and hidden away. An untold number of Titled Douluos could easily be hiding amongst their ranks, and they would easily have the money and capacity to support so many.

After all, even quantity was a quality on its own.

I eventually found a small haunt by some boarded up side streets. Places like these were usually marked with a circle split in half by a line through the center. This was another one of my requests to uncle Wei. Information was power, and knowing was half the battle.

Not that I actually had any grand plans to destroy the entirety of Spirit Hall. I just wanted to be ready since there's a still standing manhunt for any remnants of our sect out there. Thankfully though, not everyone was on the side of those tyrants.

I went into the seedy bar too dark for normal people to see in.

Places like these were the gathering spots of spirit masters who followed the more questionable paths. Those who preferred their personal gain at the expense of others or did not care for the expense of others, as well as those simply looking for a thrill. Even aunt Yuehua herself didn't dare underestimate the sorts of rumors that went around these places.

I walked up to the bar while ignoring the piercing looks I was getting.

The shop keep looked me up and down before returning to steeping the tea and cleaning up the bowls of food in front of him.

I put down a couple of gold coins in front of him. "I need some help."

He huffed. "And what sort of monster had offended the little master so?" His tone was mocking.

I shrugged and put down a couple more coins. "I'm a peaceful person most of the time, but even I still need to save face at times."

The shop keep hid the bowls away and poured me a cup of tea. "Are you just here to waste my time?"

Simple and to the point, I didn't dislike people like him. "I heard Spirit Hall was putting up spirit bones as a reward for the coming academy competitions, would you know what kinds and grades?" Spirit bones from beasts of different cultivations naturally also had qualitative differences. A spirit bone from a thousand year beast would be of lesser quality compared to one from a ten thousand year, and only legends existed of spirit bones from a hundred thousand year beast.

He smiled. "That depends." He paused.

I let go of the coins and slid them over to him.

"I heard there were three up for grabs." He sighed. "Such fine pieces, and all of them above ten thousand years in cultivation."

I passed him another few coins.

"I believe one of them was from some sort of fire beast, but the others I still haven't heard."

At least that removed some mystery from what Tang San, Xiao Wu, and I were risking our lives for. However, I still wasn't convinced it was something we needed. Honestly though, this whole competing under the watchful eye of Spirit Hall just had disaster written all over it. Even if uncle Hao were to guarantee the safety of us three, he wasn't exactly the best person to count on for good fortune.

I asked the shop keep a few more things like if there are any new mines nearby or any bandit troupes, outlaws, anyone with a price on their head, or even just which sects or noble houses were looking for hired help. There were a few interesting names like the Elephant Armored Academy who was looking for teachers or the ever present offer from the Seven Treasure Sect for power attack and agility spirit masters, though there were some lesser known pickings as well like the One Strength clan—which was a name I never expected to come across, and a recent string of robberies from a bandit group calling themselves the Sons of Huang.

Satisfied with a productive day, I left behind a few more gold as thanks.

#

As I made my way back it didn't take a genius to figure out there were a few people tailing me. I'd made a point of heading for the main streets using a different path than I went in with, and it kinda sucked now how I wouldn't be able to go back straight to the hotel.

I took a left down two streets before a hard right into another and jumped up towards the roofs. Sneaking about wasn't as refined an art yet here it seemed, and these slum areas were pretty close to the city's edge. A quick hop over to the forest was never too hard, and I bet there were a few bodies here and there as well from unsuspecting victims. For them to be trailing me however means these guys probably weren't that right up the head.

It was still a gamble though depending on how strong they were.

I didn't wait for them to catch up and hopped over the roofs of the houses and headed straight for the city outskirts.

There came a crack of wooden boards broken from too much force, and I chanced a look back to see three figures in a cloak chasing after me. As long as these guys weren't some fifty something spirit masters—which I doubted—then I was pretty confident in my little arsenal of goodies. I still had one of Rongrong's and my clan's own signal flares after all.

Roof after roof disappeared beneath my feet, and on the three gave chase. The forest wasn't too far away, and I'd already reached the sea of trees within a few minutes though the people chasing after me didn't tire with catching up. They were either thinking I was an easy mark or maybe they wanted to offer me something, but whatever it was, it was either the information I asked for or my money.

I jumped towards the ground before I summoned the Flying God Claw over my right arm with Interface and kept the Godly Zhuge Crossbow under my cloak.

I faced them as the three landed about twenty meters away from me.

The cloaked people were all larger than me, adult sized though all of them didn't have any imposing physiques. One was a lady, and the other two were dudes. I could make out a beard under one of the people's faces. The Girl was in the middle flanked by Beard to her left and Guy to her right.

"Good day seniors," I said with a jovial greeting. "Fine weather we have today for a stroll along the forest, yes?"

Beard and Guy tensed their shoulders but Girl kept calm despite all that. The two guys expanded their formation, their intent most likely to surround me.

"This junior wouldn't be mistaken if he assumes you are here to harm me, yes?"

Beard smiled from beneath his cloak as he started slowly moving towards me. Guy by the right was still aiming to circle, and Girl stood her ground, her heels raised the slightest and ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

Spirit rings then floated up from behind them, four from Girl, white-yellow-purple-purple; and three each on Beard and Guy, both of them white-yellow-purple. The girl grew fox ears and an orange tail, while Beard had a farmer's sickle and Guy had a pitchfork.

Three against one and one of them was already at the fortieth rank. Their spirit rings were less than ideal, and with hope the difference in quality would allow me to bridge the gap.

I summoned my Crown and flared all three rings as I lunged forward into Beard, time seeming to slow down as the adrenaline kicked in and my Domain covered everyone in Devour, Shock, and Corrode.

Beard raised his sickle to meet me—and fell down to the ground writhing and screaming as electricity surged in arcs from my golden light, his clothes already charring in places. Within my domain, I also felt Guy go down, also screaming aloud, his mouth foaming at the edges as he jerked and contorted, and both of their spirits had dissipated just like that.

But Girl was still alright.

I looked into her hooded form and our eyes met. Then she turned tail and ran with her yellow ring flaring behind her—only to meet a face full of dynamite.

 _Bang!_

She was thrown back and landed hard on her back, her body was battered and bruised and her clothes had seen better days. Beard and Guy were both still twitching though their screaming wasn't as loud anymore.

I looked around but didn't feel anything else touching my Domain. I stayed like that for a minute, just waiting for the next shoe to drop—but nothing. It was almost disappointing, but at the same time so jarring. None of my fights in the Spirit Arena ever ended with such an anti-climactic event, and none of my spars were ever that easy—though the last few ones as well before leaving for the capital may have been less hard at least. I guess undoing that seal on my rings finally let me display the true prowess of my three one thousand year level spirit abilities all at once.

I kinda feel cheated now after all that time getting my ass handed to me by everyone else.

I took my time and tied up the girl first before the two guys, the three of them having fainted sometime between this and that and almost all their clothes disintegrated on contact, revealing their skins that were charred and smoking in places. Girl was a brunette who looked to be in her twenties, Beard was probably in his late twenties, and Guy was bald and probably older than Beard. The three of them had lanky bodies just like their cloaked forms suggested.

Only after making sure the three were sufficiently bound did I turn off my abilities—but kept my Domain up just to be sure no one could sneak up on me.

I sighed, and summoned a water skin from Inventory and poured it over the sorry lot.

All three of them woke up.

Girl glared at me. "What are you waiting for, what, are you planning to have your way with me first?" Her spirit rings appeared behind her as fox ears stood up on her head.

I turned on Shock.

She started screaming together with the other two. Electricity arced between the three of them like a morbid plasma generator as the poor saps twisted and turned.

I stopped Shock.

Girl and her companions were breathing hard, and they all looked at me with contempt.

I squat down so I was eye level with them. "Were you people planning on robbing me?"

Girl spat.

And Corrode destroyed it mid-flight.

I scratched my cheek. "So, no other motives besides robbing me then? No secret messages or anything? No offers to join any sort of secret society?"

Beard frowned and tilted his head.

Guy didn't flinch and said, "What?"

It kinda left a bad taste in my mouth to kill these guys when they weren't a threat to me anymore. Then again, who knows how many they'd killed before with these methods of theirs. To let them go now would be to possibly damn their next victims to die. And I've killed others before too, so it's not like I was dirtying my hands any more than I already had.

"Guess not then," I said. "And weren't you guys supposed to be receiving a stipend from Spirit Hall? Why rob a hapless guy then?"

"Such a sheltered little master," Girl said. "You actually believe Spirit Hall would be so benevolent? Don't make me laugh."

Huh, I expected as much, but what sorts of crap did these assholes do for them to be shunned that way anyway? And really, did I want to listen to their life story and whatnot? To kill them was easier, so much easier. Whether my conscience—or what little of it remained—could take it though was the real juncture.

I summoned my Hammer, and their eyes all went wide.

"Y-you are with the Clear Sky sect?!" Beard's face was a mask of undying rage.

"Sorry," I said, "I'm not about to take any chances."


	34. Chapter 34

After picking up the robes from the tailors, we made our way over to the Imperial Academy first thing the following morning.

I didn't particularly feel the need to hide that little tirade I had, but I wasn't about to tell everyone either that I'd just killed a few more people. These things weren't really the sort to talk about over dinner, and I had more than enough finesse to not discuss it over breakfast either. Manslaughter had a tendency to make any food taste bad regardless of the context. And if anyone dared say otherwise—Hongjun probably—well, at least then I'd know who was the most likely to turn out to be a serial killer in ten years time.

Then again, we'd probably have much higher body counts in the future regardless of whether we enjoyed killing or not. This was just that kind of world—and to think I'd yet to reach thirteen and already I'd have been a major deviant compared to back home.

Rongrong and I lead the group through the capital's streets decked out in our fancy ass new robes. The whole shebang cost me a pretty penny, and they were worth every damned copper piece.

"Don't you think people are looking a bit much?" Oscar said.

A certain chicken on the other hand was really enjoying all the attention.

"Of course they would," Mubai added. "We look no different from royalty in these robes." He flexed his arms, showing off the goldwork and it's unique sheen against the sunlight.

"Such cheeky brats," teacher Zhao said. "You should be like the dean here and instead looking at everyone with contempt!" He was kind of a dick for ripping off the sleeves off his expensive rush order robes, but I had to concede it suited his overbearing nature in a wild and rob you along the highway kind of feel.

To say us men were a spectacle would've been an understatement compared to the looks the girls were getting. Not all of them were too polite, but it was clear in the people's eyes what they thought: that this group of people was not to be screwed with. Whether by choice or by simple lack of qualification didn't matter. They were dead if they tried anything untoward, more so if they even dared show the slightest of bad intentions.

Uncle was a bit less inconspicuous with his dark brown robes, but the goldwork made it stand out more due to how the colors contrasted. He looked more like the advisor than a guest. But not one to be outdone, I made sure Flender's robes were the most majestic with it's slivers of yellow cloth here and there to put a bigger emphasis on his status. We turned heads everywhere we passed, and wherever the teachers looked people cast their eyes down. Hopefully, not out of disgust. Hopefully.

"It's not just little bro who has cash but also sis-in-law who spends well," Xiao Wu added. She was eyeing the gold rings adorning her fingers that completed her look with the little gold tiara and the earrings.

Zhuqing naturally looked just as regal in her own jewelry, and Rongrong was nothing short of divine with hers.

My supposed fiance also had the wonderful forethought of buying everyone jewelry. I liked our teachers, but not that much. Good thing she had a critical eye for the right kind of every day wear designs, simple enough not enough to break the bank with, but just well worked enough to look fancy. It was surprising how heavy the things were compared to actual gold pieces. I doubt people here knew how to electroplate so it was possible all this bling we had on were near solid gold.

Even the gigantic teacher Zhao had on some gold bangles that wrapped around his exposed arms.

With this much, I was at least confident we wouldn't be turned away as beggars.

We reached the gate and continued for the rest of the long walk to the campus proper with an unhurried pace.

Remembering the etiquette lessons of my aunt was as easy as breathing after she'd drilled into me all the intricacies of high living. Nobles never ran. They were powerful enough—in a political sense—even without spirit power to command the servants of the land, and no matter how strong a spirit master or their sect was, at the end of the day, they still needed to eat. And what sort of strong willed spirit master would dare do a peasant's job of farming?

Beside our clan that is, almost no one else. The Clear Sky sect was not above producing its own food. That shit was hard as hell and actually helped build up good strength. Both outer and inner sect disciples between the ages of five and fifteen were tasked with maintaining the crops, I just got out of it lucky thanks to my having to focus on cultivating. But to work the land and get muddy was not the way of priests and high officials, and it was the reason why some noble spirit masters weren't as strong—because they focused purely on cultivation and nothing else.

It was a damn long walk.

"Little Jin." Tang San walked up to meet my pace. "How far has your training with the Absolutes come?"

I didn't spare him any details with the training I was doing to improve myself after he finished with those hidden weapons projects of his. Tang San was a reincarnator who came from a similar world to this, and if anyone had any sort of good insights to this world's workings outside of the norm, then my money was on him.

I sighed. "I'm unfortunately running into the problem of burning my energy channels when I push too much spirit power through them."

"Burning energy channels?" uncle said. "Little Jin? You actually end up hurting yourself when you use spirit power?"

I shrugged. "It must be another bad side effect of my cultivation." All these setbacks and still I was being hounded by them after all these years.

"I've never had a problem with my energy channels, I believe?" teacher Zhao added.

"Excuse me?"

Tang San raised his brows. "When you say burning, you feel your channels get hurt?"

"Yes, and my skin also gets hotter as well and it starts to look inflamed as well."

"This reminds me about that incident before," uncle said. "But then that would mean…"

"That he is able to generate more spirit energy than his body can take," Tang San finished.

Rongrong met my eyes. "Strange."

"He's always been strange," Xiao Wu added.

"Would you care to show us little Jin?" Tang San had that sparkle in his eyes again. I wasn't liking where this was going.

"Not with my Hammer at least." I was confident, but I wasn't about to expose myself just to show off.

I raised a fist in front of me and started pumping it full of spirit power.

"Oh?" uncle said. He extended a hand over mine and I felt his own spirit power wash over with its gentle sensation. "It seems you've improved your control a lot. You are able to contain this much spirit power and hold onto it without letting it dissipate."

Flender eyed my fist up close that was now starting to glow a faint gold. His face was distorting somewhat from the spirit power fluctuations emanating from it. "Little monsters, why don't you all try doing what Jin is doing as well." He nodded. "I believe this is a variant of one of your clan's techniques?"

"Nah, not even close. Our secret techniques can only be used with the Clear Sky hammer, and what I'm doing now is a simple spirit power exercise." It was the basics of the basics for starting the Absolutes, that is, to hold spirit power in one location without letting it dissipate. I doubt letting this little obvious bit out wouldn't harm anyone. And it wasn't even that hard anyway, one just needed to hold the sensation of a shell of spirit power as the bounds of the energy.

Hongjun, Oscar, boss Dai, Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu tried their hands at the exercise, and only the demon rabbit was able to make her hand glow close to even a tenth of the light from mine. Hongjun's hand released heat, Oscar's—for some magical reason—started smelling like grilled meat, boss Dai glowed white, and Zhuqing seemed to summon shadows. Xiao Wu shared that colorless glow as my hand. And Tang San, naturally, could do it immediately as well. His hand was like a solid creamy white—almost as if jade grew like frost over his skin.

"Interesting," boss Dai said. "But what purpose is this for?"

Anyone with at least two brain cells to rub together should've at least figured this out or tried such an exercise beforehand, but seeing these strange responses was a little off putting.

"Before that, boss Dai," I said, "you aren't too familiar with spirit energy manipulation?" Wasn't that something that should be the first of the first skills that one ought to learn while treading the path of a spirit master?

He shook his head. "As long as I am able to use my spirit abilities, then why would I need to move my spirit energy any more than I need to?"

He had a point there. "I guess that makes sense."

"No little Jin," uncle said, "share what you think with us."

I scratched my head. "Well, wouldn't it make sense to be able to manipulate spirit power to do other things?" I crossed my arms. "I mean, I at least know to cycle spirit energy in my body to help subdue poisons as well as to recover my physical strength, and I'm sure everyone here shares that knowledge, yes?"

Everyone and I looked at Tang San who smiled as if he had nothing to do with that forced lesson.

My hand was still glowing, and it was starting to get hotter and hurt now. "I've always been curious as to how spirit abilities work exactly, in the sense that wasn't it the spirit ring that was doing the processing of spirit power to make the effects real?"

Uncle nodded to my words, and Tang San looked just as piqued. Xiao Wu though, to my surprise, was listening to my rambling for once.

Actually, now that I thought about it, did Xiao Wu also have to kill other spirit beasts for her rings? Since she already has a hundred thousand years under her belt, that would naturally make her a source for a red spirit ring—it left a bad taste in my mouth to say that. And given her spirit was a rabbit, then naturally she ought to have been a rabbit as well. Soft bones, teleportation, charming, in some stretch of the concept, I could indeed see their connecting to a rabbit, though the charming part I had difficulty with swallowing. Wouldn't that mean her spirit rings were likely to be her abilities as a rabbit before? And what sort of ungodly monster was a rabbit that could teleport anyway?

"I believe that's why our spirit rings shine when they use our abilities." I raised my hand up. "Because they are receiving spirit power to fuel the ability, and not because we are using the ability—though semantics wise that is still the idea of it."

"See-mahn-tihcs?" Hongjun said with a puzzled look.

"Interesting theory," uncle said. "You are saying that people can fathom the intricacies of the spirit abilities?"

"Not exactly, instead I'm saying that there's still so much we don't understand about spirits, but I assume that's not impossible."

"I agree with this," Tang San added. "I indeed have noticed my spirit power would be changed in an instant once I consciously make use of an ability. And if I am correct, you are saying that it should be possible to use abilities without using the spirit rings?"

"I actually hadn't thought that far, but sure, that seems like a logical direction to take," I said. "I was moving instead that since spirit rings are able to make use of spirit power after being fueled, then it made sense that spirit power could be used to do other things besides an ability from a ring, and given enough complexity—it would be equivalent to another spirit ability."

What went unsaid though was how come such information was made available to use after absorbing a spirit ring. We all just intuitively knew how to use our abilities after receiving it, and information more or less followed the laws of conservation of mass. Information could not simply arise from nothing, and must instead be built up. This essentially implied that there was intelligence, or at least information, contained in spirit rings.

Was it possible then that all spirit rings had such intelligence? It followed that these were the souls of spirit beasts so it wasn't too impossible. And Xiao Wu's consciousness should also have started from one point or another. Was it only by the hundred thousand year mark then? Surely not, how else would a spirit beast even understand to cultivate? Although even instinct could probably account for such a complex set of actions.

Uncle hummed. "Indeed, that is the essence of self-created abilities like you've said you are studying with your clan. But?" He was smiling now.

"But those techniques are specific to our spirit which is something not everyone has, however, there is indeed something that everyone shares."

"Spirit power?" Xiao Wu's eyes were narrowed at me. "You are saying that with enough knowledge, it is possible to teach self-created abilities not unique to a spirit?"

I nodded.

Tang San chuckled. "Truly a little genius as well, this cousin of mine."

Which probably meant Tang San really did have such a created ability—one that didn't need the specifics of a spirit. My hand was really hurting now and started showing up red in Interface indicating the beginnings of damage. A peculiar thing I'd discovered over the last few days though was that a percentage was showing up on my hand that had all that spirit power contained, but when I did this same thing to my Hammer, it didn't show. My hand was currently displaying eighty-seven percent, which most likely meant my spirit power capacity for holding in that body part.

Unfortunately, even if I released this mass of power, it wasn't just going to explode into a wave of force. I was hoping to just punch out and have this all turn into a whirlwind of sorts, but I guess we all had our flaws.

I summoned my Crown and expanded my domain to my hand to reabsorb the spirit power in it.

This was another peculiar thing. My cultivation method made use of my chakras to take in the energy, and I incorporated parts of Tang San's own method as well to maybe gain some of its benefits, and whenever I used Devour, the spirit energy basically directly entered my Crown and for some magical reason, it just ends up as a part of my spirit power pool. That implied that my Crown was connected to my spirit power pool, but as to where my spirit power pool was, I always thought it came from the dantian, or the sacral chakra, but perhaps it wasn't actually from there?

Tang San took my hand in both of his, and spirit power permeated from his skin to mine. His energy always brought me back to that dreadful night, except his was more dignified than tormented and spiteful.

"Third brother!" Rongrong said. "Not satisfied with just Xiao Wu and you'd also take little Jin!"

"Was that jealousy I heard?" Hongjun snickered.

"Hmm," Tang San said. He kept kneading spirit power into my hand and I felt it trace lines up and down my energy channels, his dignified energy soothing the strained paths. "I don't believe you were damaging yourself, little Jin."

He raised a brow.

I started pushing and holding spirit power again into my hand and watched as the percentage on my right hand trickle up: ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and by then it started slowing down.

"Indeed so fast," he said. "You can keep going?"

Welp, he knew what he was doing. I pushed on despite the pain, climbing up to sixty, seventy…

He had his hand waving back and forth over my hand. "Let me know if it starts to be unbearable."

I was already at eighty and pushing for ninety—my hand was starting to get hotter, and the pain was as if my hand was on fire.

"Very interesting indeed," Tang San said. "From what I can feel, your energy channels are doing just fine, and you can easily handle this much."

I'd never let my hand reach a hundred before, and it was now starting to hum as it glowed—and the pain was bearable but intense. It was nothing as horrible as actually getting burned, but it when I say it burned, the damn thing really burned. "It really hurts though," I said.

"You'll get used to it in time," he said.

"That doesn't sound like sound advice."

Tang San chuckled. "Little bro has cash but little bro lacks faith?"

"Bah." I reabsorbed the spirit power back into me—or my crown. Was there even a distinction? "And where does spirit power reside exactly? Is it stored in the body? Maybe in the spirit?" The spirit of course made sense since that's where it went for me, but maybe others did it differently?

"The spirit," uncle said.

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Tang San didn't react—I'm guessing he was thinking something else. And that could be a pretty big point if any of this speculation could yield fruit.

Why was it then that Tang San didn't share his own techniques?

It was obvious he had them. No one could make up all that crap he could without prior knowledge even as a genius, and the experimentation it would need to hone into a useable state in battle implied generations of knowledge. It wasn't the kind of thing that could be accomplished in a lifetime unless Tang San really was indeed a total freak of a genius—which I believe he can't be. Or at least think he shouldn't be. It was too irregular of a coincidence otherwise.

"Are we there yet?" Oscar said. He was dragging his feet so early in the morning.

"You've trained your bodies hard," Flender said. "You don't have a right to complain with this little exertion."

"Perhaps a quick exchange of pointers later will remind you of that?" teacher Zhao said.

"Please teacher," Oscar said. "Did I seem tired? I was actually excited to do even more walking!" He started jogging in place to show his enthusiasm, and it was a little sad to be honest.

Hongjun laughed at his expense but was silenced by the sinister look of our dean.

"Are you perhaps taking after the title of our Grandmaster?" the dean said in teasing, he elbowed uncle.

"Jin isn't one to call anyone master," uncle said. "Teacher perhaps, but never master." He hummed. "But of course, little San is still my direct disciple."

"Oh," the dean said, "and what am I?"

I rubbed my chin. "A valued business partner?"

The miser nodded deeply to that. "I can accept that."

"Jin does seem to have an obsession with money as well," Oscar said.

"And he also likes to work the markets a lot," Hongjun added.

"He even wakes up early just to check if there're any differences in prices everyday," Xiao Wu said with a sigh.

"Jin gives me good quality metals reliably," Tang San said, "I owe most of the weapons I've made to his efforts in procuring materials."

"He's been like that since we were kids," Rongrong said, "we almost fought over a nice little treasure of a space stone."

"Wait, that's what that was?"

"You two have known each other for that long?" Boss Dai was skeptical.

"These two know each other longer than we have known each other," Tang San said with a sly smile.

"Are you really sure you two aren't engaged yet?" Boss Dai crossed his arms.

"Does that really matter by this point?" Xiao Wu stuck her tongue out.

"We're not old enough for that yet."

Xiao Wu locked my head into her thin but strong as fuck arms. "Did my cute little brother just say something rude?"

"Already"—she squeezed—"calling me your in-law, eh?" I sounded like a person getting strangled by a nigh immortal demon.

Xiao Wu blushed and cleared her throat, letting me go in the process.

Then Oscar broke away from the group and ran up to a large archway done in masonry and brasswork.

"Finally!" Oscar knelt by the gates and hugged the cold stone. "It's been so long!"

The dean walked past him together with the rest of us.

"Get up," Flender said, "you would dare ruin such expensive clothes with these antics of yours?"

"Wait, no, priorities dean!"

He looked at me funny. "I may not have paid for these, but I will not be paying for their cleaning either."

#

We were received by senior Ming shortly after we entered the grounds. Turns out we were expected as guests, and thankfully nothing strange happened. The people we saw all gave us a wide berth when we passed and none dared stand in our way.

"I've never had such a grand welcome before," I said.

"For one," senior Ming said, "rumors of a certain blond monster with three one thousand year spirit rings is enough to deter a lot of small fry."

"And two," the dean said, "these are all small fish! They know nothing of the bigger world outside, and to see us all in these regal clothes and walking together with a record holder of one of Spirit Hall's youngest, why, I believe it was in my good judgement that I listened to you about our clothes."

"And last," uncle said, "any one would indeed be intimidated if they saw a group of people walking around with their fists glowing with the brilliance of spirit power."

Following Tang San's advice that I would eventually get used to it, I kept pushing through the pain of saturating my body with spirit power, and the others also followed. Xiao Wu took to the exercise with great skill, since it was most likely something that had a parallel for her as a spirit beast. Hongjun, Oscar, boss Dai, and Zhuqing all had the images of their spirit power's colors covering theirs, while Rongrong was doing it a step higher by only focusing spirit power at the tips of her fingers.

She had two out of the five splayed out glowing.

I almost forgot just how excellent of a group I was with from always having Tang San as my measuring stick. Spirit power control wasn't difficult per se, but it was the rate at which one could push around spirit power that made all the difference. The others had only started on the exercise, and it took them a few minutes to reach the intense glows their hands were now displaying, as opposed to doing it in a few seconds.

"For all intents and purposes though, it really isn't much." I summoned my Crown again to reabsorb the power, my three purple rings displaying for but a few seconds only.

"And I believe your confirming the rumors every few seconds also most likely adds to that," Tang San said with a sigh.

"Nobles are annoying, cousin," I said.

"Jin is too right," Rongrong added. "If anyone here learned of my identity, and I believe a few of them already do, then I'm already fortunate enough to not have the lot of them walk up to me asking for my name."

"Such is the fate of a princess." Teacher Zhao had a laugh at that.

"But this exercise of yours," senior Ming said. "I do not understand the point of it, although I do see the merit of being able to attack with a mass of spirit power."

I lost control of the spirit power in my hand for a bit, and the fluctuations sort of kind of bled away and distorted the air. That was energy I wouldn't be able to recycle, but it wasn't that hard either to recover it in a few minutes.

"I can use this as an attack?"

"Wasn't that the intention?" Senior Ming gave me a puzzled look.

Boss Dai frowned. "You mean to say you didn't think this could be used as an attack?"

"I tried punching trees and stone with this," I said. "And nothing happened." My breaking the things was more a consequence of my strength than the saturation of spirit power.

"Well of course that wouldn't work," uncle said. He shook his head. "To saturate yourself with spirit force is not an attack that damages on a physical level, but is spiritual in nature instead."

I face palmed. "So you're telling me." I made my hand glow in the span of a breath. "I can seriously hurt someone if I punched them with my glowy fist?" I shook the mass of spirit power about.

"I would first question your naming sense," Xiao Wu said. "But yes, why would you think otherwise?"

"Because I was expecting it to dust rocks or make trees explode?"

They all looked at me like I was high.

"No then?"

"No," Tang San said. "Although, perhaps if you saturated your hand with the spirit power from your Hammer instead, maybe it would work."

I looked at my hand. Then I looked back at Tang San. "I've been doing a lot of things wrong."

"You've been doing things differently," uncle corrected. "Had you followed the well travelled path, perhaps you wouldn't have come to ask these questions, no?"

"You're not wrong." And coming back to what Tang San said about the nature of his spirit power changing with his spirit ring's ability instantaneously… then did that mean I could somehow use the spirit power conversion of my abilties as well to do these things?

"Senior Ming," Oscar said, his hand also glowing as that sumptuous meaty smell wafted about. "Pardon my rudeness, but are we there yet?"

"We will need to pass through two more mimicry environment facilities first before we reach the main hall of the advisors," he said. "The gardens and the beast pens to be specific."

I summoned my Crown and used Shock without expanding my Domain.

"Little Jin?" Flender was staring at my glowing purple ring. "What are you doing?"

I felt for the change where my spirit power was being used by my spirit ring and found the energy was not—for lack of a better word—moving. I extended my Domain to just above my outstretched hand and pushed spirit power through my Crown and through my Domain towards a concentration.

"I'm not really sure either," I said. I could feel the mass moving through my spirit and that little spot of yellow just above my hand was now starting to crackle with my electricity. I pushed more into it, and the sparks grew in intensity. There was no percentage appearing on my hand, and my spirit power was only getting consumed.

"You must have some insight?" Uncle rubbed his chin.

"Cousin San said that spirit power immediately changes in nature after going through the spirit ring after using an ability, my guess was that if I could recycle that spirit power after passing through my ability, then I could wield the converted spirit power like I would my own before the change."

"But you are not seeing any differences?" Tang San said. He kept a respectable distance between him and crackling electricity in my hands. He also made sure to place Xiao Wu further away from me and shielding her with his body in the way.

"I'm seeing that I'm only consuming my spirit power as normal when I use my ability, but I can at least make my electricity flare with more spirit power—although I already knew that." I hummed. "Am I able to lift spirit power from my spirit ring instead?"

Uncle met my eyes. "It's not something I've considered before, and I'm not sure how you would do so either."

I retracted my Domain but kept my second ability up, and the consumption stopped. "Like this," I said pointing to my spirit ring. "My spirit ring is using its ability, but it's not consuming my spirit power, so I believe it is currently saturated with spirit power, and only after it makes use of this would the ring convert more normal spirit power into electricity based spirit power."

I willed the ring over my hand and tried willing spirit power from it into my hand. Nothing happened. I then willed the ring to touch my hand before willing the power again to move. Still, nothing happened.

"There ought to be a way," I said. "I'm just still not sure how."

"A fine pursuit," senior Ming said. "And I believe everyone here would be curious as well about the fruits of your study." He walked ahead of us and stepped up the stairs leading to a large and ornate building.

"For now," he said, "Qin Ming of Heaven Dou Imperial academy welcomes our esteemed guests."


	35. Chapter 35

We found ourselves in front of the Imperial Academy's board of directors: three old Spirit Douluos who could easily have passed for my own grandpas. The three of them stood as one and gave their greetings as the dean represented us to give ours.

"Seniors, I and my brothers give our greetings." Flender approached with his hands clasped in front of him. "It is an honor to be in your presence."

Senior Ming also joined the dean. "Teacher Qin also greets the honored board of education."

And just like my grandpas, those three old men smiled.

The tallest of them, the one in the middle, said, "Please please, teacher Qin, dean Flender, it is Heaven Dou academy's honor to have you grace our halls."

The pudgy man to his left nodded before saying, "We wouldn't dare hide the state of our own school, indeed it is our honor to have such young talents show up, unfortunately our bad students and the powers that back them usually end up scaring away any commoners with potential."

The one with the longest beard to the right sighed. "To say we are desperate would not he inaccurate. Even if our facilities are excellent, we truly only receive students who have no passion for strength nor the stomach to eat hardship."

Flender gave them face by saying, "Such is the hardship of any teacher, dear seniors." He bowed a bit. "Our school has had no shortage of problems ourselves."

And he wasn't lying. How else would such a proud person like him be forced to come here otherwise. Cheap to his bones, Flender was, but even he couldn't fight the reality of a wilting bank account.

Together they all shared a genial smile before the dean bowed. "Seniors, I am Flender, the dean of the former Shrek academy, owl spirit, and rank seventy-eight agility system Spirit Sage."

The younger would introduce themselves first before their seniors who would then introduce themselves afterward, it was basic courtesy, and the fact that the old guys had already exchanged words with the dean basically showed their good nature to us. They weren't contemptible old coots, that was an excellent start.

"Please please," the one in the middle said. "Let us three brothers introduce ourselves then."

As one the three changed their posture, now more befitting of the ceremonial robes they wore. It was the black robes that Spirit Hall gave out to distinguished Spirit Masters, at least the ones in their good graces—that is, the ones they weren't locked in a life or death struggle with, but not necessarily allied with. For these three then to be wearing these clothes and to be this nice meant they were even more daring to bare their full majesty and still level themselves with us.

The one with the longest beard went first, "And I am Zhi Lin, Sky Blue Vine spirit, and rank eighty-three control system Spirit Douluo.

Then came the pudgy old man, "I am Bai Baishan." He gave a hearty laugh. "Heaven Star Furnace spirit, and rank eighty-five defense system Spirit Douluo."

Last was the one in the middle who bowed once more before saying, "I am Meng Shen Ji, Black Goblin spirit, and rank eighty-six, power system Spirit Douluo."

"Together, us three old ones manage the higher decisions of the academy, but for certain larger matters, we still get the opinion of his majesty." Meng Shen Ji stroked his beard. "We are, after all, backed by the empire, and apart from our loyalty, you would find little else is asked for."

"Truly, such is a great benefit," Flender said. "We shall also introduce the rest of our group."

The teachers stepped forward together and from right to left they announced their names, ranks, and spirits in the same manner.

"Li Yu Song, Dragon Pattern Staff spirit, rank sixty-three power system Spirit Emperor."

"Lu Ji Bin, Star Luo Chessboard, rank sixty-six control system Spirit Emperor."

"Shao Xin, Sweat Pea, rank seventy-one food system Spirit Sage."

"Zhao Wuji, Vigorous Vajra Bear, rank seventy-six power system Spirit Sage."

And after each one the three old men applauded. It wasn't too obvious due to how few people we met, but the entire staff of our Shrek academy was impressive by regular standards. Calling back that tasteless experience with the Blue Sunshine academy before, they were led by a fifty something ranked guy with a non-ideal spirit ring configuration. The guy actually had a white ring for his first and a purple one for his fifth when yellow and black respectively were considered ideal.

And yet all our teachers without exception were all above level sixty and though not all of them had ideal configurations, at least none of them actually took a white ring for their first. That was just horrible foresight, and sure, maybe a lack of access as well, but if these guys were dirt poor before they became teachers and were still dirt poor after that, then their situations couldn't have been too different.

I personally hadn't had much of a chance with getting any first hand experience with the other teachers besides the dean and teacher Zhao and for good reason. My Clear Sky Hammer even before I'd undone my seals could already draw blood with an all out hit from me to teacher Zhao, a Spirit Sage beast spirit master who'd body was so much more resilient than a tool spirit master's like mine. And for me to actually be able to hit him with my all took guts from teacher Zhao every time. Sure, I'd suffer most of the backlash of all those times we exchanged pointers—but that didn't mean he wasn't taking damage at all.

Had any of the other tool spirit teachers taken one of my hits though, maybe things wouldn't have come out as cleanly as with teacher Zhao. What us budding students needed the most were targets we could give our all against without fear of deadly retribution. A lot of spirit masters love to argue against training, saying that only true trials of life and death could allow one to breakthrough, but uncle Xiaogang had the right idea in the sense of learning how to move was just as important, if not more so, as actually moving. Most schools simply had their students fight amongst each other or other students from different schools to continuously grind and hone their skills against each other, but to really get any effects, one had to experience the whole spectrum. Fighting people from the weakest tier to those ranks far above you was the real way to get a proper feel for where one stood—it was just my luck I got paired with a lot of monsters hence my skewed sense of scale.

"Such a power truly this Shrek academy," Bai Baishan said with reverence.

"To have all of you above level sixty, surely you must've been well known in your kingdom?" Zhi Lin was incredulous.

"If only," Flender said, "perhaps we'd have been able to keep up our academy running much longer, unfortunately not too many could pass our rigorous tests."

Then again, since Flender already accepted exceptional talents only, of course he'd have a good crop of students—what was a bigger thing was to be able to make a masterpiece out of mundane materials. Although I wasn't really one to talk either for having been born with such powerful spirits. But was this world really like that? One's strength was fixed at birth based on the quality of their spirit? If so then it was a horribly flawed system—which really calls to mind just what sort of malicious intelligence designed this.

I refused to believe such a system with its defined rules and observable limits could have arisen from nature on its own. Hence, the idea that there could only be some higher power running the show. It was too much of a coincidence that a hundred ranks could be divided over a base of ten and for spirit rings to be needed specifically by humans for them to grow in power.

Hell, now that I was considering it, it was much too disadvantageous to spirit beasts as a whole to actually need ten thousand years to be anywhere close to being a powerful enough creature. After all, if a bunch of kids could defeat a spirit beast with a thousand or so years of cultivation, then what exactly did that say about the world?

That humans were essentially being brought up to become stronger, and that this entire thing was actually some mystical eugenics project to breed an ultimate warrior or race of warriors—if our clan was anything to go by.

And why the hell would a spirit beast in all its power want to be a human anyway either? I'd probably need to talk to Xiao Wu some more about this—and it'd be really nice to be able to talk to her brothers as well. Hell, her and her brothers are all essentially living history books. Assuming they actually remembered anything that far back at least.

Boss Dai and the others began introducing themselves starting with him as the eldest—in terms of declared ages at least.

"Dai Mubai, Evil Eyes White Tiger spirit, rank thirty-nine power system Spirit Expert."

"Oscar, Sausage spirit, rank thirty-four food system Spirit Expert."

"Tang San, Blue Silver Grass spirit, rank thirty-eight control system Spirit Expert."

"Ma Hongjun, Evil Fire Phoenix, rank thirty-three power system Spirit Expert."

"Xiao Wu, Soft Boned Rabbit spirit, rank thirty-six agility system Spirit Expert."

"Ning Rongrong, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda spirit, rank thirty-three auxiliary system Spirit Expert."

"Zhu Zhuqing, Hell Civet spirit, rank thirty-three agility system Spirit Expert."

"Little Jin?" Uncle had tapped my shoulder. "Why are you so pale?"

"Is there anything the matter?" Meng Shen Ji asked.

Everyone was staring at me.

"Err, sorry, I was just lost in thought," I said with a quick bow.

"You mean to say this child is also one of your students?" Li Zhin blurted out.

"For the record, we're all still children."

Bai Baishan started laughing at that.

Li Zhin lightly smacked his forehead as a smile lingered on his lips. "With sharp wits as well, how old were you again?"

I bowed as well with my hands clasped in front. "Tang Jin is eleven now."

"Eleven?" Li Zhin sat back in his chair. "And your spirit?"

"Ah, well, right. Amber Crown spirit, rank thirty-seven control system Spirit Expert."

"Thirty-seven?!" Bai Baishan stood up from his chair. "A-are you sure this is no joke?"

Senior Ming had on a wry smile.

"Yes, seniors. Junior would have no reason to lie."

Meng Shen Ji shared a look with the dean, who then said, "Little Jin, maybe you can show to seniors here the proof?"

It was all part of the show. "Of course, dean." I summoned my Crown and arrayed my rings behind me.

"So it really was true," Li Zhin said. "I'd heard there was an exceptional monster, but I never considered it real."

I shrugged. "Reality can indeed be stranger than fiction sometimes."

#

We were to start with our lessons the following day after settling into our dorms. Just as the dean initially included in his requests to senior Ming, our lessons would indeed be handled completely by our own teachers. All of them were hired without exceptions, and too bad we weren't there any more for the discussion about their salaries. Uncle Xiaogang was offered an advisory position as he requested so that he was free to pursue his own ideals with theory and whatnot, but I wouldn't be surprised if the academy itself wasn't eventually convinced with applying his Ten Core Spirit Principles just like our clan.

Since the adults were ironing out the rest of their dealings, us kids were allowed to roam and explore as we saw fit. It was easy enough to make our way around the school with the tallest tower—the Heaven Dou library—as our landmark.

Xiao Wu and Tang San broke away to do their own thing, while the three stooges boss Dai, Oscar, and Hongjun all struck out to look for trouble. I wasn't too sure this was a good idea, and I really wanted to go with them to keep the peace but, eh. They were old enough to make their own decisions. Given Zhuqing was engaged to boss Dai, he probably at least had some noble blood in him, hopefully that's enough for his head to not go up his ass too far.

And that's basically how it happened that I had two pretty girls accompany me to the library. We walked along the cobblestone lined road, me with a flower in each hand.

"Little brother," Zhuqing said. I had to do a double-take just to be sure it really was her talking. "This idea of yours about self-created abilities, how far along do you believe you are?"

Rongrong was also staring at her.

"Ah, well." I cleared my throat. "Consider how spirit abilities stemmed from our spirit rings, and consider as well that spirit beasts were capable of making use of their spirit power to produce various effects." Really, a rabbit that could teleport. It didn't get crazier than that. "It stands to reason that most of the feats spirit beasts are able to do are likely because of their spirit power." Even if it threw biology and physics and chemistry up for a loop. "This then means that the sharpness of a Jeweled Daffodil Mantis's forearms are likely a consequence of spirit power, or the lightning from a Thunder Heart Moth, and even the acid of the Acid Snare Ant."

"And what of their natures?" Zhuqing said. "Is it not simply their nature to have lightning or these blades on their arms?"

Well, to be fair she actually had a point. Electric eels were a thing, and so too did mantises really have some sort of cutting edge to their carapaces. Probably. "Perhaps, but for now I'm supposing that my idea is correct."

"Why would you believe yourself correct?" Rongrong said with a frown. "It's not as if you actually know whether this is true."

"That's correct, but if in case I find some way to verify I am correct, then I will be able to confirm my first belief."

She hummed. "And what if you're wrong?"

"Then I think about something else to verify after being incorrect and rebuild my belief. Then I try to verify that again, and keep repeating this process until I am sure of what I'd found out."

"I see," Zhuqing said. "So it's not about being right, but finding what is right?"

"Yes!" I waved my hands about. "Right, so spirit beasts perform all their feats with spirit energy. If this is true, then how do spirit beasts learn to make use of spirit energy? And how is it that they learn how to cultivate as well?"

"But you are thinking that spirit beasts actually cultivate instead of simply live?" Rongrong pursed her lips.

"That, hmm…" She had another point there. "We're getting side tracked, I'll think about that one at a later date."

Rongrong rolled her eyes and gestured for me to go on.

"Okay, so spirit beasts for some reason learn spirit abilities, and for example let's consider the Man-faced Demon Spider, how many spirit abilities can we maybe say it has?"

Zhuqing spoke up, "I can only think of its eight legs, since Oscar received some sort of ability that had a relation to the number eight, and I believe its strength? Since Oscar is also able to give us a boost to our spirit power?"

Rongrong poked her cheek. "There's also the poison in Oscar's spider lances."

Actually, shouldn't the spider's poison be affecting Oscar's Sausage? Uncle did say that the Man-faced Demon Spider had a ferocious poison, well whatever. "That's three so far, the spider-legs, the strength, and the poison. However, we can keep stretching this idea, and I'll add in some things as well from what uncle knows. The spider is also capable of shooting out a web to catch its prey with, and then it is also well known for being a ferocious predator that would eat anything weaker than it." And now that I considered it, that spider could have been a good match with me, and maybe even gave me that spirit bone thing Oscar got.

That kinda sucked.

"So around six abilities?" Zhuqing said.

"Yeah, but how many did Oscar get?"

Rongrong raised an eyebrow. "One." She rubbed her chin. "This does interest me." The girl smiled. "I believe this is relevant, but my uncle Sword once told me the legend surrounding hundred thousand year spirit beasts."

I choked on air.

"Little brother?" Zhuqing rubbed my back.

"Carry on."

Rongrong looked at me weird but continued, "My uncle Sword said before that hundred thousand year spirit rings would give two abilities, not just one. So your theory has merit, I believe."

"Assuming hundred thousand year rings really did give two abilities, then yeah. And both of those abilities should be a trait of the spirit beast before they became a spirit ring." Or a person. What sort of bullshit ability was teleportation anyway?! Xiao Wu was a freakin' rabbit. Wait… if I got a spirit beast that could teleport, I think it'd be pretty cool if I could teleport to anywhere within my domain or something, but it'll likely be an agility type ability just like how Xiao Wu was an agility type spirit master.

"So spirit beasts have multiple spirit abilities, what then?" Rongrong tilted her head.

Zhuqing widened her eyes. "Where did they get those abilities then?"

I shot her with a pair of finger guns.

"What?" Rongrong said.

I hung my head. "But yes, where did they get those abilities. Going back to Zhuqing saying it was part of their natures, fine, let's say that was true. So spirit beasts by their very nature are able to learn abilities on their own."

The two nodded.

"So what about our spirits?" I was gonna ignore for now the implication that there existed sentient hammers and living mini buildings with seven floors. "Isn't it that spirit beasts, could also be a person's beast spirit?"

Zhuqing frowned. "People's spirits have their own abilities? But then what's the point of getting spirit rings? And how is it that our spirit powers cannot advanced without a spirit ring?"

Probably some malicious intelligence did that to punish spirit beasts in general? No one needed to hear that crazy ass theory just yet. "Not necessarily, but I think it is possible people can learn the original abilities that their spirits possess without having to have spirit rings."

"And what about us with tool spirits?" Rongrong puffed a cheek.

"That's the problem with my theory." I scratched my head. "I don't think I've ever seen a living hammer or living seven treasure glazed tile pagoda."

"And that's why you wish to head to the library?" Zhuqing said.

"Exactly!" Actually I was also planning to look up anything I can on any legends about spirit beasts or maybe any mythology or legends, anything really that could shed light on all this strangeness. How was it that people even discovered they needed to absorb the souls of other creatures anyway? What sort of caveman would figure out how to perform cultivation and get the bright idea to kill a spirit beast and meditate to get the spirit ring? It was all too smart and designed of a system for it to be anything natural.

Had it been natural, I was expecting some sort of automatic resonance between spirits and a sort of devouring sort of manner of absorbing strength instead. I'd already done something like that before after all, absorbing the energy of a few ten year spirit rings and feeding them into me.

But that wasn't how things were happening.

#

We eventually reached the library with the sun still high above us. There was a place nearby and removed from the main building that served food so me and the girls got a few things to go. While we ate I kept up that exercise of filling up my hand to capacity and making it glow, after which I'd reabsorb the spirit energy then make use of my Crown's second ability to try and siphon spirit power from it and charge my hand up with lightning.

Heh, that'd be a nasty surprise I bet.

Rongrong was eating her meat bun in peace and Zhuqing was just as graceful with admanipulating her chopsticks to bring the rice up to her delicate lips. We had a few dishes to share like some stir fried beef and roasted chicken and some veggies. I also had a bowl of noodles for me with a pork based broth.

I then shaped my Domain into a small ball and I grasped at the non-solid volume with my hand before saturating it with electricity. Perhaps if I couldn't pull the spirit power directly from my spirit ring, then maybe I could pull it from the Domain.

Electricity crackled in my palm—but it wasn't my hand containing it, and neither was I able to remove the electricity from my Domain either. I sighed.

"Jin?" Rongrong said. "You're still trying to get spirit power from your ring?"

"Yeah, it's just so weird that I can't." However, a thought did occur. "Maybe if I pushed enough spirit power into my ring then it'd leak electricity that I can control?"

Zhuqing narrowed her eyes. "This is possible?"

I shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

A smarter person probably would've only tried this with adult supervision. But the thing was this was uncharted territory for everyone so it would've helped to have someone observing, but not by much. And besides, I'd already been able to absorb spirit power from a spirit ring anyway.

I retracted my Domain first to perform a quick test. I used my second ability without letting it seep into my Domain—then turned on Devour and directed it onto my second ring. And the spirit power trickled back into me without issue. It actually brought up more questions about the nature of my abilities, but for now it'll have to do.

Zhuqing and Rongrong had both stopped their eating after I willed my second ring to stay in front of me.

I activated my second ability, and the ring started glowing. However, this time I didn't expand my Domain at all and instead pumped as much spirit power as I could into my second ability. The ring grew brighter without Interface displaying any major consumption.

It was strange to feel so much of my spirit power invested in my ring yet to not have it leak out. There were no signs of anything happening anytime soon and I was not experiencing anything negative either, so I kept pumping in more and more spirit power.

Then the usually purple glowing icon of Shock on Interface turned into a luminescent pink.

I stopped pushing spirit power into my second ability. I felt for any leaks or anomalies, and found none. That was probably a good sign. The pink glow stayed, and I could feel the spirit ring was heavier somehow, like its presence actually took up some part of my mind instead of just running in the background out of sight.

Another interesting point was how brightly my spirit ring was glowing now compared to normal. Enough for the two with me to squint their eyes, though the light from it didn't blind me.

"That's never happened before," I said.

Rongrong swallowed the food she was chewing and said, "It's the same for me."

"Me as well." Zhuqing resumed attacking her food.

I opened my Domain to a small circle above my hand and allowed my supercharged ring to color it.

It became a surging spark of white hot light that destroyed the table and threw around all the food we had left as well as covered me and the girls in splinters, leftovers, and bits of porcelain.

The two girls shrieked as the surge exploded, though the entire affair lasted only a split second but the stars in my eyes lingered longer than I wanted to, making me stumble a few steps before I expanded Domain to check for where Rongrong and Zhuqing were.

I felt them only a few feet away from me and first went to Rongrong. I knelt down next to her and gave her a hand.

She took it and pulled herself up before pinching my side. "Next time, do it when no one is near you."

I finally blinked away the visual artifacts and found her hair was singed in a few places. Shit. "I'm sorry about that."

Zhuqing cleared her throat. Her hair and clothes were also singed here and there, but at least there weren't any burns I could see. I also gave Rongrong a quick look over and she too seemed untouched besides her hair. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for the table. It was only good for firewood now.

"You seem to have learned something at least," Zhuqing said. It was difficult to reconcile her stoic attitude with the crazy flair the left side of her hair was doing due to the singed parts.

That's when the two saw each other after the fact, and I swear I heard their anger echo upwards from the very depths of their souls

I stepped away from them and knocked my head on the ground three times. "Tang Jin apologizes for ruining your hair."

I didn't think Rongrong had such powerful legs.


	36. Chapter 36

Spirit power made healing from most minor bruises that much easier, and I was back to public facing condition in no time. What sucked though was spirit power didn't help one bit with growing hair back.

The destroyed table lay broken in heaps and the bits of food here and there made the scene all the more tragic. But even the unnecessary waste couldn't hold a candle to the severity of my sins.

"Fix this." Zhuqing's pristine face was the very image of the buddha, serene, and yet the fires of hell raged like wailing brimstone towards the skies behind that stoic façade.

The smile Rongrong had on was just as angelic, but it was the sort of grace beyond transcendental rage. "If grandpa Sword found out about this…"

She didn't need to finish that.

Zhuqing kept her raven hair long, reaching up to about half way down her back. And I'd ended up zapping it as far up to her shoulders. Rongrong on the other hand kept her hair shorter by shoulder length and I zapped it to by her ears. I didn't know jack shit about cutting hair, but I remembered enough from my old life whenever I accompanied my mom to the hair dresser to recreate what someone cutting hair looked like. Zhuqing would likely do well with a bob, and the only way I was gonna fix Rongrong's hair was by turning that into a layered pixie cut. The singed parts cut in too deep for any quick fix to be applied.

I wasn't an expert, but I did have excellent muscle memory and an even better eidetic one thanks to my Crown. I didn't know much, but the very real threat of bodily harm was a damn good inspiration to learn fast.

"I can fix this," I said. "But you'll need to trust me."

Zhuqing didn't flinch, but Rongrong looked like she was about to cry.

With a withering gaze she said, "That's not how you apologize."

I knew better than to say anything unnecessary. "I _am_ sorry, and I swear I'll do something to make this right." I pursed my lips, not really sure what was needed from me besides a solution. "I promise."

Rongrong shook her head, the singed parts of her hair wafting against the wind. "That's not what I meant."

Zhuqing grunted with disdain. Things were going so well between the three of us just now and for all of it to be undone by this was a harrowing experience.

We cut the trip to the library short so I could make it up to them come dinner time. It was a good thing everyone was still out and about and that we didn't see any people on our way back to the dorms.

Zhuqing was pissed, but Rongrong just looked disappointed. They then slammed the door to the girls' shared room, and I pumped my body up full of spirit power and ran straight for the city.

I already had some sharp scissors I'd gotten Tang San to make for me before, primarily for working on crafts and stuff, but I could use them for hair. Probably. Next thing I needed was a comb for fine work, and the mirrors I already had stowed away in Inventory. The most important part then was practice.

I wasn't about to let just any sort of haircut fix this, I needed it to actually be good.

I went straight for the slums of the city without regard for how much spirit power I was exhausting with strengthening my body. After learning how to better push spirit power out into my limbs, I was practically flying through the goddamn woods like a certain blonde ninja. It was liberating. And the sheer thrill of cutting through the air almost, almost, made me forget the horrors that awaited my sorry ass if this haphazard plan fell through.

I kicked up a cloud of dust when I entered the city proper and blazed a warpath towards that seedy bar I bought information from before. Cusses and startled citizens got in the way, but with the increase of my spirit power also came an accompanying increase to my perception outside of the boosts provided by my Crown. It wasn't as good as using my sprit, but it was enough to avoid ruining someone's day.

Left, right, over that peddler's wooden cart. Then a quick cartwheel between two women gossiping, a quick limbo to avoid a man carrying a large barrel, then a vault over a group of children making their way to I didn't care where. I hit the entrance to the slums at a dead run, even going up by the sides of the walls where the turns were too sharp.

I arrived at the unnamed bar and made a dash for the dirty counter and set down a bag of gold, five hundred pieces total, in front of the same old man.

"I need women. Now."

The old man had a twinkle in his eyes. "Of course, honorable spirit master."

"I need them to let me cut their hair however I want to, but I promise I won't make them look ugly." I'll try, went unsaid. "And I'm willing to pay big."

He smiled a wide and lewd grin. "I see you have a fire in you."

"Wait, no." I shook my head. "I don't plan to sleep with them at all." I wasn't even old enough yet to get an erection.

The old man flashed a frown for the smallest moment. "I've had worse requests." He shrugged. "Whatever makes you happy, good sir."

He knocked on his bar counter three times and a ragged youth whose hair covered his eyes walked up to him. The youth met my gaze. He was still much taller than me.

"I need three at least, and their hair must be half-way down their back." I just needed people after all. "Even men are fine. And I need a place hidden from view."

"You heard him," the old man shooed away the youth. "Don't make him wait."

It didn't take too long for the youth to come back with three dirty looking young women, two aunties, and three guys. They all wore the sort of clothes you just knew came from the slums, and their shoes were nothing but straw straps. I took back my bag of gold and gave a hundred straight up to the old man and another hundred to the youth.

I wasn't a charity worker, but I'd be damned if I didn't do a little something to ease my own privileged guilt. I couldn't change these people's lives. But that didn't mean I couldn't do something at least.

The youth led me to a room upstairs together with the eight scared people and left us alone. The women sat on the one seedy bed illuminated by a lone window on the ceiling, and the men sat on the floor. This all looked like the start of a serial killer movie.

I brought out the same bag of gold and said, "I'll pay you all a hundred gold coins, fifty first before I cut your hair, and the other fifty after."

I pulled out sets of fifty and give them to the people there, counting it out before them and putting each set of payment into a little bag. It wouldn't do anyone any good if the assholes here got wind of the riches they'd made here. I then wore my Crown and expanded Domain to cover all of us.

All of them inched back towards the walls once they saw my spirit.

"I swear I won't hurt anyone, and I'll do my best to make you all look beautiful." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't a guaranteed truth either.

The men didn't look too pleased, but the resolve behind their eyes told of harsher realities waiting outside. At least the women seemed more intrigued, and yet the fear remained all the same in each of them. I also didn't like the vibes this scene was giving out, but I needed to save my own ass first and foremost.

After that very, very awkward first impression. I set about my work. I summoned some large basins of water to wash everyone's hair with a little olive oil and some crude soap. I then dried their hair with some cotton towels I didn't have much need of anymore. They all took the worked cloths and held them like treasures, and I guess such soft textiles would be divine compared to the rough spun robes they all wore—assuming it was even spun and not just picked up off the streets. Or worse, off some corpse.

After drying came the first experiment.

I started with one of the teens and summoned an array of mirrors, plus my personal fluffy chair to make this all a little bit more bearable for these people. All of this occurred under the light of my Domain as I needed to catch every last detail of this practice run so I spared no effort. Everything my light touched, I could almost feel directly. Bad wording, but if I wanted to learn as much from this, then I couldn't pull out any stops.

Each strand was unique under the light of my crown, the clarity from it allowing me to feel how smooth each strand was. Even how dry her scalp was or the length of her hair as a whole, and so was I aware of each hair as if I'd known how each one grew to be. I took out my pair of scissors and a wooden comb I bought off the streets.

If everything went well, this could be another great business for the future next to that sausage cart for Oscar, or maybe to that dynamite factory. Straight up nitroglycerin was too dangerous to leave to careless hands. I could also probably make a lot from doing large scale mining operations the likes this continent has never seen, but for now, self-preservation took precedence. And maybe a little bit of remorse for ruining Rongrong's hair.

"Ready?"

Okay, a lot of remorse.

"Please be gentle," the teen said.

Ah, right, Zhuqing's hair too.

I rolled my eyes and began combing the girl's hair straight down to lie flat against her back. Washing it all with soap made her hair harder, but still more manageable compared to without it. After having it all drape to just above her butt, I then took her hair in a bundle with my hand and gripped it tight before cutting it all off to reach by her shoulders.

All the women gasped in surprise, more so the one in front of the mirror.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," I lied.

She looked at me with eyes wide open and frantic. "O-okay."

I straightened off the crude cut and balanced it out by tapering the hard edges, cutting vertically to even the line the hair made when let down as well as make the, uhh, hem of it look more natural. I wasn't too sure of the terminology but whatever. After cleaning, the hair hem wasn't as clean as I'd have preferred, but it wasn't that bad for a first try.

Focusing on the sense of non-straightness, I allowed my Domain to show the mistakes with greater clarity. I felt the uneven edge her hair made, and I cut some more of it off to chase the shorter edges.

The girl looked puzzled at her reflection, but it wasn't in the incredulous or outraged or weirded out sort, instead more of a sort of wonder.

I then summoned a smaller basin of water and wet her hair some more so I could work it in clumps. I didn't know fuck all what I was doing, but I trusted enough in my modern sensibilities and let my hands do the talking.

I had her crane her neck forward and brushed all her hair up to the other side to drape against her forehead. I combed parts of the clump of hair up and kept them between my fingers before making a straight cut across. I was working with an image of what I remembered, and then built up from there.  
I remembered that's how the hairdressers used to do it, and I guess it all should somewhat look natural from there.

For now, symmetry was the game, and based on this first cut I tried my best to stay true to her hair hem and the beginnings of the layers I were doing.

Layer after layer, cut after cut, I'd comb and continue to wet her hair to make it pliable enough for the acrobatics I was making it do. Every now and then I'd comb the already cut sections of hair down to see how it measured up overall, I'd correct the uneven edges here and there, and level the straightness of it when all draped.

Eventually, and finally after the last layer, I combed all that wet hair down to her shoulders to observe my work.

I couldn't tell the shape because it was all wet.

I dried her hair and observed my work.

The tapered edge was acceptable thanks to the amount of detail provided by my Crown's increase in perception, and the attempt at layering her hair at least met some success. There was no one visible lump of hair but a sort of cascade that started about the highest part of her neck and gradually receded to the tips of her shoulders. There were a few uneven cuts a few quick vertical cuts helped to tame, and I could've done better with the gradualness of the layers, but it wasn't bad for a first try.

A few more quick comb downs here, and a few snips there, and the unevenness wasn't as noticeable anymore.

When I finally deemed it done, there were no words shared in that room.

But the girl whose hair I cut couldn't get enough of her reflection. She looked at it from the sides, turned side to side, I even picked up another mirror to show her the back. It was mesmerizing to see such a familiar hairstyle, and I wanted to give myself a pat on the back for bringing this bit of home here. She wasn't smiling, but she couldn't remove her eyes either from the way her hair seemed to just fall in strands and flow from her fingers.

I then led the first girl to sit back on the bed, and the next one sat on the chair directly without waiting for me.

"What did you do?" the second girl asked.

"Does it look bad?"

"No?" one auntie there said.

"But it's not something we've seen before," another of the teens said.

The men only stared.

"I can't stop looking at it," the one whose hair I cut said. She kept turning her head some more, observing the way her hair cascaded with her movements. "And how is my hair so… soft!"

I next needed to figure out how to do a pixie cut then to polish up my skills some more after.

#

The eight left that room with wide smiles on their faces and lighter heads with much less hair, and when we all went down to the shop, there was no shortage of mesmerized gazes all locked on them. I was at a level I was confident enough to not get slapped after working on a lady's hair, and the men were sporting some layered locks too. So uhh, go figure.

A guy even tripped against a chair from looking at the giggling women. Their clothes were still the same rags before, but their faces at least weren't as sullen now. A few gold coins probably helped. But I'd like to think I was able to give them a little something more than just that. Hopefully.

Rongrong watched me work through Zhuqing's hair with mastered precision and great care, turning her ruined black locks into an elegant straight bob. The indignant cat at least let me work on my mistake long enough to make it look decent.

I finished off everything by holding up a mirror behind Zhuqing, allowing her to see the back of her hair from the reflection in front of her. She flitted her hair back and forth and watched it flow with each turn of her head, and the strands fell in line, thick and alive. I first soaped up her hair before finishing it with a quick rub down of olive oil and a few mountain flower extracts to give it a light and refreshing scent.

I was never one for the arts, but this exercise in hairdressing was something I didn't hate.

Zhuqing stood from her seat. "Good."

She sat next to Rongrong with a hand mirror still in her grasp.

I offered the pink-haired girl the chair. "Please?"

She sighed and gave in, and sat.

I summoned a basin of water. Rongrong had already seen what I did to Zhuqing, so she already knew what to expect. I held the back of her head with a hand and slowly let her lean back to allow her hair to settle by the water.

Carefully, I washed and soaped her hair to get the food and oil out she'd missed. The traditional method for washing hair here was to use a fermented mixture of rice water and some essential oils, but that left a bad smell and was usually something not done everyday. The soap I used was something I'd made myself in my free time, just a simple saponified bar of more olive oil. It was the easiest to obtain, surprisingly enough, and there was always a steady supply of it in the markets any time.

Her eyes were on me as I massaged the roots of her hair with the soap. Her wet pink hair shone under the light of my Crown, and each strand and breath of hers I felt through my Domain.

I finished rinsing and dried off her hair with a cotton cloth, then applied olive oil to put back the moisture into it and wiped it off again to remove the excess. I didn't need to use the olive oil so early, but I felt like it added to the ease of handling. I couldn't help how my fingers would brush against her cheeks at times, more a consequence of the positions I needed my hands in to be able to do what needed to be done.

Rongrong sat back on the seat straight up as I directed her.

I took a deep breath. "I'll begin cutting now."

She clenched her jaw as I gently bunched the rest of her hair behind her and grasped it firm. I set the scissors against it. The indignity Rongrong displayed when I'd cut that section off her hair would've killed me on the spot had she been a battle spirit master.

I set the cut off hair near her with reverence. From shoulder length all the way down to the beginnings of a very short bob, the longest strands fell to level with her chin, and nothing else draped lower than that. The change was immediate, and at least she didn't kill me outright. She still had her own Godly Zhuge Crossbow, and even if I were expecting it, I wouldn't be able to guard against the absurd weapon if she chose to use it.

There were still so many singed parts despite how much I'd already taken away. It needed to be shorter. I combed her hair all the way over to her forehead with the comb and took lengths of the last strands squeezing it between my fingers before snipping away.

This trailing edge I then used to begin shaping the overall look, making sure to follow a sort of rounded gradient as I matched the next length of hair to cut. Comb a few strands out and hold it straight, then compare it to my leading edge of hair. Snip. Repeat.

Each beginning I traced back to the root with the back of her hair as the base and radiated outwards, and what began as a side heavy bob with a light back turned to a wild and fiery duck tail that brought out the brilliance of her jeweled hair. This kind of variation in coloring was most likely a consequence of her spirit just like my head of blonde hair.

Soft edges, untamed, feminine yet free. It was an image and an impression, the person I'd gotten to know over the years made real by this transformation. I didn't know if she hated what I'd been working at with her hair, but I hoped the message came across.

I'm sorry for what I did.

I finished off the shaping by softening the last leading edges with a few more masterful snips all under the light of my Domain. Not a single millimeter out of line, each one deliberate and intended. I tousled her hair to shake away the excess hair, and shaped it with my fingers to set her bangs to just above her eyes, the back of her hair to fly away and the sides to lie flatter but still unrestrained.

It was a radical change from the straight locks she'd sported, but I felt this was closer to the Rongrong I'd gotten to know.

I took a deep breath and hoped for the best. "H-how is it?"

Big pink irises blinked wide and hard. She turned her hair left and right observing the way it bounced as she moved. The olive oil helped return the nutrients and oils stripped away from soaping and gave back some of the life with damaged strands. There were better treatments from back home but I didn't have enough know-how to recreate them here. People actually devoted years and millions of dollars and research into that, and I didn't have that same luxury here.

"It's different from Zhuqing's," she said. It was a statement, the tone unhurried. It didn't catch or rise, flat. I couldn't tell what she'd felt from that but her heart did not waver, nor her eyes unfocused. She met my eyes with resolution. She did not jitter or fidget.

I felt like a creep for keeping my focused light on her, but I wanted to know if she didn't like it. I needed to know she didn't hate it.

She broke eye contact first and turned her head to the side, a light blush rising from her cheeks. "It's alright."

She glanced up from her downturned position.

It was difficult to look away from her.

"You can stop staring, you know." She was starting to get a little redder up to her ears and neck. It was liberating to see the neat look she now sported.

"Ah, right."

I retracted my Domain and the world became less real, yet there she still was, as bright as ever.

She pouted. "Is there something on my face."

"Ah, nothing." I put everything back into my Interface and left their room without a word, not even taking the time for a quick wave or anything.

And that was how I found myself staring at Xiao Wu who was just about to enter their room, Tang San next to her who was seeing her off.

"Jin?!" she said with surprised glee.

"No."

Her big eyes had a sly light behind them. "But, Jin?"

"I ended up burning their hair. Then I fixed it."

Tang San and Xiao Wu tilted their heads at the same time.

"You did what?" she said.

Their door opened and out came Rongrong with her new hair. It was even better out in the light of the setting sun.

Xiao Wu went through five stages of something, each one marked with a vastly different expression from the last before settling into confusion. Then I saw the moment the light bulb clicked on. And then came a raised brow and an elbow to my side. "I didn't think you'd leave your mark so literally."

Rongrong glowered at me. "What did you tell them?"

"You look different, Rongrong," Tang San said.

The two girls looked at him with disdain, although Xiao Wu was more of a slight annoyance.


	37. Chapter 37

As much as I wanted to go back to the library, it was already too late into the afternoon for me to have any decent time with the books. That, and we apparently had a dinner waiting for us together with the board of directors and, of all people, the Emperor team and the goddamn royals. Everything would've been just dandy had the pompous idiots for nobles not brought a Titled Douluo of all people to the event. And now that I had a chance to see another one, I guess my grandpas really couldn't have blended in with the general populace after all.

The green haired old man had a very different air to him, almost as if he were part of the scenery yet at the same time had the aura of what I could only say was like that of a main character in a story.

I couldn't ignore him if I tried.

We were all seated at a large rectangular table with the crowned prince Xue Xing and his nephew, Xue Beng. They were the brother and fourth son of the emperor respectively, and typical of nobles, they both displayed the usual haughty attitudes and disdain for all things not noble or from high society. It was obvious with the way they looked down on our teachers, and it was only the presence of that Titled Douluo that they hadn't been thrown out yet.

Not one to be intimidated by some powerless pompadours, Flender stood from his seat and have a deep bow to our hosts—the three old men of the board of education—and said, "It is an honor to be dining with such distinguished seniors. Us newcomers are humbled by your consideration."

Bai Baishan's mirth echoed throughout the hall, unhindered one bit by the pressure exuded by the green elephant in the room. I didn't know much about the basic protocol of dealing with Titled Douluos without the context of family or the family of close friends, but I wasn't comfortable at all with how things were going.

Xiao Wu excused herself earlier saying she wasn't feeling too well, but I knew it was because staying too close to a Titled Douluo would out her as a spirit beast turned human, uncle Hao told me as much before.

"Please, please," Bai Baishan said, "like we said before, Heaven Dou Imperial academy would never turn away talent. Please, let us all dine and be merry." The man stood from his seat and presented Flender with his cup for a toast.

"As long as the royal family permits," Xue Xing said as he took a sip from his cup. "But you may proceed."

They were jokes pushing themselves as more respectable than they deserved, and it was this perception of honor that put me off from dealing with their types. I was really hoping the tropes before in my old world regarding people in power acting like dicks would be overturned, but sadly, and as it was said before, absolute power corrupted absolutely. And to the general populace, an emperor who could guarantee—or at least had enjoyed stability during their term—might as well be god.

"Of course," Meng Shen Ji said with a smile and his cup raised. "By the grace of our empire then, now, to new friends."

"To good times," Li Zhin said with a nod.

"To all of us," Flender said with both hands raising his cup.

We all raised our cups, save for the Titled Douluo and the two princes—not like it wasn't out of protocol for formal affairs, but it would've been a nice gesture had they played along—and drank deep to celebrate this new partnership.

It was wine.

I wasn't fond of the fermented rice variety, but the others though were only too happy to drink. I didn't see the beauty of the stuff, but give me a nice neat glass of whiskey any day and I'd be good. Man, how hard would it be to make that stuff anyway? I could make a fortune with that! Honestly though, distilled spirits probably weren't a thing here yet. At least, not for recreational purposes probably. Or if they were then not a lot of people would get to enjoy them seeing how little of it I'd seen in the markets, that is, there were none.

A mountain of dishes were carted in by the serving staff, noodles and steamed buns, all manners of vegetables and pork, beef, and chicken in three ways each, fried rice dishes, fish dishes, and I think there was even a salt water fish in there somewhere. It was a feast no less impressive than the ones back home—minus the goods from the sea.

Hongjun eyed the serving girls and the food they brought with unrestrained hunger, and Oscar was likewise in bliss. Boss Dai, who couldn't take his eyes off Zhuqing, didn't seem to notice Yu Tianheng trying to make small talk with him. Zhuqing, as much as she tried to hide it, had a light blush coloring her cheeks and a small smile. Tang San though was a little sad to see, and I could tell he'd rather be with Xiao Wu in her room than here.

Even if he couldn't figure that out himself.

I was seated next to Rongrong who had the eyes of that Osler and Yu Feng, and across me was Shi Mo who sat with his brother who both seemed more interested in me than her. I didn't know if they fancied guys, but maybe the society here was a bit more progressive. Lingling didn't bother much with anything and just stuck to herself. Hongjun though had other ideas, but he didn't stand a snowball's chance at wooing her.

Though maybe I gave the guy too little credit? Who knows, a difference in age of five or so years wasn't really all that much ten or so more years down the line.

It hadn't been that long since I last saw the Emperor team, but I could tell these guys had all grown in strength. And they better have, hell, I was almost twelve and these guys have had a head start of a good five or so years.

Shi Mo and his brother both nodded at me, and I returned the gesture. Even in a situation of peace, these two were still so silent.

I couldn't say the same for Dugu Yan. She had a hand on Tian Heng's back, but the confidence she exuded and the presence she commanded declared loud and clear he was hers. Not that anyone here wanted to change that. "As loathe as I am to admit," she said with rancor, "we were bested by this team of monsters."

The temperature in the room cooled for the briefest bit.

The Titled Douluo spoke, "Little Yan, so it is true you were defeated?"

And now it made sense that they were related. Dugu Yan had green hair, and normally it would've been obvious had this world followed proper trait inheritance, but my blonde hair had nothing to do with either of my parents. And looking at Tang San and uncle Hao, they didn't share hair color either. It wasn't a good indicator most of the time, but in this case at least it made sense. Kinda.

But as for how old this guy was, I didn't know. My own grandpas were both well past eighty and then some, and I never really bothered to ask. All I know is reaching the Titled Douluo level increase one's lifespan, just not sure for how much more, and each rank came with its own increases in longevity as well.

Dugu Yan pouted. "You don't need to keep repeating it, grandfather."

The next word out of the old man's mouth was as simple as it was frightening. "Who?"

And contrary to what I'd expected, San instead had a smile on his face. "It was I, honored senior," he said. "I happen to also have knowledge in the art of poisons myself, it was a simple matter given I knew what I was handling."

"Hmph." The three old men at the front stiffened when the aura from the other old man erupted, thankfully it wasn't enough to blow up the table in front of us.

It was a deep chill that struck a coldness in my feet all the way up my hands. Rongrong was already sweating, so I held her hand and willed my spirit power into her. I would've preferred to coat us both in the imposing aura of my Hammer, but I had to bring it out to do so. It would be nice if I could make use of its aura without summoning it, and that was another item then on my to do list.

"My my, such a lively evening," Meng Shen Ji said.

The brunt of the spirit pressure released by the asshole of a Titled Douluo was absorbed by the three, and their robes likewise reflected a little of their harrowed states. Their regal black robes weren't as kempt as before, and I could also see a light sweat covering their brows and cheeks. The two princes I was sure didn't even reach above the fiftieth rank, and they had even more sorrowful looks after the three spirit douluos. Flender had likely protected uncle somewhat, and the other teachers from Shrek were just as pitiful looking from that little flex of spiritual thuggery.

Flender who sat next to uncle gave him the elbow who in turn gave San the elbow.

He didn't get the message. "It does seem to be getting late," San said, "it would be a shame if our food got cold from waiting too long."

Yu Tianheng was at a loss for words from wanting to placate Dugu Yan's family, and the girl in question paid no heed to what had transpired. She probably didn't feel the imposing manner of her grandfather, and it was either the man had enough finesse to exclude her, or they shared the same spirit—the Jade Phospor Emperor Serpent. I remembered reading it on the spec sheet the spirit arena gave us, and given how much bullshit of a person San was, this poison art he'd mentioned was likely another one of his previous life's knowledge. How come I wasn't that well equipped to survive in a world like this anyway?

I want a refund from whatever cruel god sent me here dammit!

"Senior Dugu," prince Xue Xing said, "I wish to retire early, I believe the emperor would have some food prepared for us as well."

"Hmph," the old man said. "Suit yourself, come then."

I was willing to bet that was an attempt to salvage a possible disaster, and the prince at least earned some points with me even though he was a royal.

And just like that the party of three we didn't even want to join us—if any of the looks people had here was any indication—left without so much as another peep.  
Which was a lot scarier than if they'd stormed off.

#

After the dinner, I made sure to give San a piece of my mind.

We were in a dark little corner away from prying eyes. I called him out to find me after I made sure Rongrong got back to her room safe. Hongjun and Oscar though a little shaken up were too distracted by the women and the food to feel too much fear from the landmine San threw us all towards, and boss Dai was too enamored with Zhuqing to notice anything besides maybe a chill in the wind. Zhuqing, was only too happy with the attention, and Dugu Yan also approached me about doing something with her hair. She pointed out how lovestruck boss Dai was and she wanted—rather, demanded—I did the same for her so Tianheng would likewise, in her words, drool for her.

I was just barely turning twelve and she essentially enlisted my help to seduce someone.  
There were a few things wrong with that train of thought.

Shi Mo and Shi Mu made like Oscar and Hongjun and stayed in their own lanes, and Xie Lingling, though likewise shaken up, had her bowl of mango tapioca to keep her company. I hadn't seen mangoes here until now, and it was another comfort from home I didn't think I'd miss. How apt then that they served such a desert given this place was so reminiscent of China. Though I wasn't sure if mango tapioca did come from China, welp, Chinese restaurants usually served it, so I guess it most likely did. Probably.

Finally alone, I stood in front of a Tang San with a purpose.

I sighed. "Cousin, what was that?" I could just feel the trouble this was gonna get us in. "As much as I joke around with my grandpas, pulling a Titled Douluos leg would usually be met with bad outcomes."

San's mouth fell, his jaw opening and closing. Before he pulled himself together and said, "Why would I wish to pull his leg?"

I shook my head. "You had a plan I assume?"

He smiled. "That Dugu Bo—"

"You asked Dugu Yan for his name?

"Teacher remembered his name after a while and told me." He crossed his arms. "But more than that, I may have yet found a good source for the poisons I was hoping to find."  
His eyes seemed to flash purple for the briefest bit.

I raised a brow. "And this is related to their spirit?"

San nodded. "Indeed, that old man may have some good poison, but he does not own it. That green hair of theirs does not normally exist, and is actually caused by the poison of their spirits seeping into their bones and harming them."

"Hair color?" I pointed at my own head of blond. "Or their spirits would just be causing that?"

He smiled again. "Not this shade of green, no. It is specific to a certain path that a poison could take and cause the bile to seep into one's hair."

I wasn't even going to grace that jargon with a dignified response. "I see, and you want to…?"

"I wish to cure him in exchange for a few things."

And there it was.

"Let me get this straight." I massaged the bridge of my nose. "You want to cure a Titled Douluo of his poisoning which was caused by his own spirit?"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "And if I can't, then I am confident I can at least save his granddaughter from the pains he'd lived through until now." San rubbed his chin. "Though it does make me wonder how he can be so clueless with regards to his own poison and still be able to survive."

"He's that badly poisoned?" I really lucked out on the otherworld knowledge lottery here. "Poisoning so bad that a Titled Douluo should be dead?"

"But that's exactly the matter," San said. "His hair is so far beyond what is survivable with the kind of poison he's afflicted with, and from what I remember"—and there we have it, confirmation—"then he should be suffering through attacks that inflame his entire right side as well as a headache that traces a line from left to right over his forehead in passes. He shouldn't even be standing, is what I'm saying."

"And yet he's alive."

"He shouldn't be, yes. Something is helping him, but he doesn't know how it does so, and he also doesn't know the other effects of it besides helping to quell the poison flares." Tang San looked off into the distance. "Unless… he has access to…" He shook his head. "But it would be impossible, he can't…"

"I'm assuming this is something only known of in legend?" Just like everything was.

"Yes," Tang San said, "he's either eating something to help with the poison, or some place or artifact is doing so, there are only so many that could keep this sort of poison down, and it comes down to three things." San raised three fingers. "The first is a special herb called the Aromatic Silk Beauty which suppresses poisons, but it wouldn't work on someone already afflicted by poison. The second is a place called the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well which is a condensation of heaven and earth's energies coming together to nourish a chaos in balance that fosters the growth of many kinds of immortal treasures its extreme Yin and Yang energies will placate most poisons. And the last, is the Starlight Hallowed Clearing which has the power to cure any ailments as well as houses all manners of treasures important to the distilling of longevity elixirs, the moonlight that graces this hallowed place is blessed by the heavens."

And if his knowledge was as trustworthy as the techniques he'd been able to use all this time, then I was sure these things existed too somewhere somehow. Although that seemed like an incomplete list to me, usually legendary items and places come in threes, and that was two locations and a plant. "Surely there must be a third such place?"

San shrugged. "The third great treasure bowl is the Ninth Court's Banquet Table, and this one one cannot enter without first giving up their life, I doubt Dugu Bo would so callous of a man as to offer his own soul. That would be like putting the cart before the horse."

"And this Aromatic Silk Beauty, are there similar plants to this?"

San started pacing. "None that I could think of, and any other equivalents to it in terms of potency are all poisons themselves which would kill even a Titled Douluo, more so one already so ravaged by poison. No, I don't think it's the Aromatic Silk Beauty that keeps his life aloft." His eyes started twinkling. "Which means this man just might be in possession of a Yin Yang Ice Fire Well."

"Can that sort of thing be carried around or something?" This shit right here was downright magic. Might as well go all the way.

San laughed. "No little Jin, I don't think there is a power strong enough to dare contain these hallowed places into a dimension of its own."

He just said dimension. I was pretty sure I heard that right. And it was also used in the context of a place instead of in terms of a, well, dimension like length or width. Which sort of makes sense since I basically carry a hyperspace containing artifact with me at all times. And that also means it's possible to keep places in something like my ring. Which I guess kinda makes sense since if I can fit a mobile home in my ring, then nothing was stopping me from doing so.

"Alright, so from what I see here, you'd like the help of our grandpas with ensuring your safety as you try to negotiate a deal?"

Tang San nodded. "That is correct."

I shrugged. "Sure, I can go to my aunt and ask where I can find grandpas Shan and Lin. We always met with her first whenever we ended up at the capital before."

"Thank you cousin," he said.

We said our good nights and Tang San went ahead to our room to retire for the night.

Tonight was rather productive, besides of course San placing us under the scrutiny of someone who could wipe our sorry asses from this world with a whim: I essentially got circumstantial proof that Tang San was a reincarnator, I got to learn about three very special places where treasures apparently grew in, as well as a place that could heal any injury.

Given how fantastic everything seemed, it was only a matter of time for us to find all three of those.

I would've gone to sleep too, but my mind was still racing from the things I'd learned that not even the soft comfort of shredded cotton could dissuade my excitement.

Tang San was a reincarnator who knew goddamn magic! Or at least what I assumed was magic, and I guess spirit power was also essentially magic and mana one and the same. A little disappointing though, but I guess even magic had to be bound by rules. Immortal treasures, treasure bowls, and poison that San was so sure should kill a Titled Douluo, such were the marks of Tang San's knowledge plus his hidden weapons.

Then San could only have come from a world where learning such matters were expected, either by culture, need, or desperation. And given San hadn't exhibited anything too out of the ordinary for me besides the already so impressive hidden weapons, then I was also maybe just as crazy or Tang San just covered it all up better than I could.

#

The following morning, I was still alive and there were no alarmed shouts of San either dead or missing. That was a good start. Us five guys shared a single dorm room, and I left a note on San's already empty bed—since he always had this thing he did facing the rising sun—about my trip to aunt Yuehua.

She was probably gonna chew me out for putting off meeting her as soon as I could. But meh, I had my own matters to attend to.

I covered myself in spirit power and made a dash for the city proper. Last night, it would've been better if I were able to make use of the Clear Sky Hammer's converted spirit energy, and I guess in a way this should've been the first step to my experiments before I tried getting spirit power to leak from my rings. I should first try to make use of spirit power in the same—I don't really have a better term other than—color as my spirits without them. Because a way to look at this is that my spirit rings make use of the spirit converted spirit power to make use of its abilities, and my mistake was that the spirit power I was hoping to use was already in my Crown.

Maybe, if I could convert spirit energy first before making use of my spirit ring, then I can use my abilities even without my rings.

I ran through the cobblestone pathway to a madman's pace and yet my breathing was so even and my limbs exploded with power. From using Growth and so much and trying to cut my timing shorter and shorter, the explosiveness with which my use of spirit power had also grown. And I guess this is one of the prerequisites to using Shock of the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes. From how grandpa Shan described it, it was a timed explosion of spirit force that compounded the power of the Clear Sky Hammer's already monstrous attack, kinda like an airburst explosive.

Actually, most of the Heavenly Realm techniques made use of delicate timing based moves like Jolt which aimed to allow one to increase force and reposition the Hammer with an explosion based kick exiting from the trailing face. Then there was Surge which drew parallels with my own Thunder Heart Strike that was essentially an empowered attack like a combination of Shock, Jolt, and Growth, but with a much larger scale of spirit power investment, and last was return which was a recovery method that had the same concept as Jolt except it exploded the Hammer's leading face to allow for sharp changes to momentum. The difference then between Shock and Return was the propulsion provided by either one, and if I could make use of the Nine Absolutes even without my Hammer, then I could easily enter into a slugfest with a non-power attack system beast spirit master. Probably. Although it'd still be a bad idea, but at least I won't be as useless in close combat without my Hammer.

And besides, after growing it to the same size as me, hiding that thing was gonna be a chore. Not to mention it'd make using Growth after that more awkward since I'd be making myself an even bigger spectacle. Granted being able to swing a hammer twice my tiny ass's size though was a real turn on and allowed me to appreciate why some people could go on and just destroy stuff I guess. It was a bad sort of empathy, but it did make me look forward to getting my next ring.

It was time to go monster hunter on the next poor sap's ass.

I just hope it wasn't another insect though.

And knowing my luck, I wasn't gonna get away with that.

There were barely any people out and about, though it was nice to see some of the nobles take the time to do some morning exercises, of some sort. There were a few already exchanging pointers—but when I neared them it was actually due to some petty quarrel. It would be nice I guess to get into a fight with some more nearer my age, but that's assuming some of them could even keep up. I'd love to get into a rematch with the Shi Brothers, especially after the large changes to my power.

As I ran, I felt for my Crown and Hammer resting within my soul, and I guess just saturated my body some more with spirit power. From my chakras I willed the pools to fill the spaces that my two spirits resided in somewhere inside but not entirely within grasp. It was a peculiar sensation to know it was there and still not be aware of where. But the same thing that as when I cultivated occurred instead.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I just pushed spirit power into my spirits—and it was exactly the same as when I cultivated.

Did that mean then that I could cultivate as I moved? The difference though was that I consumed spirit power, but this level of control could not have been possible without that Growth exercise. It allowed me to better distinguish the flows of energy within, but I guess there must still be a layer I hadn't grasped yet that would allow me to push spirit power into my spirits without them being swallowed as cultivation.

Somehow, there must be a sort of switch that makes the spirit convert spirit power into its use. And it was a lot like trying to flex a muscle I always used but never isolated, a bit like trying to make my eye twitch instead of scrunching up my face. Which meant practice. Lots of it.

And to be able to push my own spirit power into my cultivation seemed like an interesting thing if I could maintain Devour too. I could essentially make use of Devour to constantly replenish my spirit power and cultivate, but that's only if what happened just now really was cultivation.

I focused Interface to display my cultivation bar and got the benchmark for where I currently was, I was at the thirty-seventh rank and twenty-four point six-two points away from thirty-eight. To confirm if the effects were as I expected, I'd decided to consume a third of my spirit power performing this moving cultivation method.

I resumed my running while reinforced with spirit power, this was my first active use of it. Next came the Growth inspired explosive method of delivering spirit power to my legs using Flow, this was the second active use. Then I'd push spirit power into my Crown like I did with cultivation, thereby allowing me to maintain the three different and somewhat muddled but still much clearer sensations from each other. From what I knew, energy channels in the body were finite, but how was it that I was able to make use of my spirit power in three different ways without the interfering with each other?

Or were they?

I ran faster and faster as I pushed myself to the limits of my spirit power control, Flow ceaselessly churned within my body to deliver energy where it was needed. Like dried earth, my Crown kept taking in spirit power greedily, leaving none for me to skim for my own use. Perhaps doing things this way distracted my too much from having to control all these uses of spirit power, but to be able to give each one the necessary attention was likely thanks to my Crown—which I wasn't wearing right now.

And now that I'd thought about it, how was it that my Interface was on despite my Crown not being active? Did it mean then that my Crown was actually always active and just not manifested? Each little discovery led to more and more questions, and thanks to my good memory, I still hadn't lost track but I'd long lost control over my time tables.

There was so much to find out that I barely ever have enough time.

It was exhilarating to be at the forefront of discovery, a high unlike any other, and a tantalizing satisfaction promised itself at the end of every lead. Did I seek this knowledge for fame? I don't think so, but a solemn question burned at the back of my mind: how far would I be able to take this for?

When I reached the outskirts of the school's gates, I stopped and sat at the ground for a while to regain my lost spirit power through cultivation, but this time I kept up my cycling using Flow and Growth, even concentrating spirit power in the most unlikely places like my armpits, the tip of my nose, the backs of my knees, anywhere and everywhere in a desperate search for unknown sensations, even leading my to dare concentrating it a little lower off—though nothing too special happened there which I was thankful for.

While bathing under the energy of the universe and maybe making my body glow in random places, I turned my attention to my cultivation bar and saw that it was now at twenty-four point seven-one. It was a very small increase, but the fact that I was able to do it while I moved provided a very important fact: cultivation was not limited to sitting down. However, I then directed my cultivation into my spirits instead of into my dantian—and how is it I never tried to convert spirit power through my spirits before having it return to my dantian? Again, more questions for the future.

After getting my spirit power back up to around eighty percent, I went out the gates and into the city. I delegated most of my focus into analyzing the way my spirit power moved within my body as I saturated my hand to its full capacity to see if that helped increase the clarity of what I could feel there.

I spent eleven minutes making my way to the gates, out of which my cultivation bar grew zero point zero nine points, and my cultvation rose another zero point zero one just now from cultivating for approximately a minute. Just from that, cultivation without moving and being able to focus completely was more efficient, but what if I didn't do anything else and just pushed power into my spirits?

Or why don't I try to actually cultivate instead while moving? It really seemed like an obvious thing to do from the start, but why did I ever bother getting bogged down by all the common knowledge of this world anyway? These guys don't even bother experimenting!

That's when I bumped into someone I didn't feel the presence of—and found myself against a firm chest attached to a pretty boy. A teen from the looks of it. He had long black hair in a pony tail and simple blue robes adorned with hints of white.

He looked a lot like Xue Xing and Xue Beng.

"Little Jin?" The voice came from a sharply dressed man in pressed white robes. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

I pulled myself away from the guy I'd just inconvenienced with a quick apology before giving uncle Ning Fengzhi a small bow. "It really had, uncle."

He smiled. "Good good, now tell me, is my dear Rongrong well?"

Well, fuck.


	38. Chapter 38

Clouds overhead cast an ominous shadow against my immediate future, the paved streets like a barren graveyard framed the man before me like king Yama. And where uncle Fengzhi was, Rongrong's grandpas Sword and Bone couldn't be much further away. Far enough at least that the old codgers could appear at any given moment.

"About that, uncle." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "She's doing really well." Which wasn't totally wrong. Rongrong had reached the thirtieth rank at such a young age and had, after all, gained a spirit bone thanks to my efforts. Maybe the latter was enough to balance out the hair thing. Hopefully.

Uncle Fengzhi's sagely smile shifted. "Why the hesitation then?"

Next to him, his companion smiled my way before giving uncle a soft but chiding look. "Teacher," he said, "please don't bully the junior."

That just now spoke volumes of their relationship. I'd never seen this person before much less hear of him from the years I'd spent hopping to and from the capital and Nuoding, and my aunt wouldn't have let someone like that slip by her attention. Which meant it was only recently that uncle Fengzhi picked up someone who looked like the crown princes. That either marked him as also royalty, or maybe a bastard. And given how prominent the Seven Treasure clan was, a bastard was unlikely unless uncle had a soft spot for him. Auntie most likely knew more.

Uncle Fengzhi had a small laugh. "Little Qinghe, you should be more wary of how you speak in front of this one."

I shrugged. "You give me too much praise, uncle."

The youth called Qinghe put on an amused expression. He bent down to place himself at eye level to me. "Surely, this little master must be someone precocious then?"

Since Qinghe didn't recognize me, there were a few possibilities; first, uncle either had no intention to inform him of my identity or had him keep it a secret; second, he just forgot; third, he had a plan; and last, was that this was just a coincidence.

I clasped my hands in front of me in a respectful manner, enough so to break protocol between nobles. "I'm simply a fortunate junior who happened to be studying under the same academy as sister Rongrong."

As to how much he revealed though, that was another matter. That he didn't make use of my name was likely a test for me. I appreciate how much of a scheming bastard Rongrong's father was, but it was too stressful most of the time to deal with his kind of noble: the one with the power and bearing to back up his folly. Then again, the man himself was wise beyond his years. Surely, this move with this Qinghe person was another calculated one.

Uncle Fengzhi only smiled his usual enigmatic way. "Surely." He chuckled. "And what brings you here then?"

I broke off the bow and stood at height. Or at least however high I could given I was still pretty damn short. "I am not sure if Rongrong has already written to you uncle, but we are here on the pretense of our academy having an exchange of learnings with the Imperial Academy."

The look of surprise on Qinghe's face was serene yet conveyed just enough strength to be genuine. I couldn't quite place a finger on it, but somehow it seemed manufactured. Either that or there was a story behind that emotional restraint, be it voluntary or not. "I must say, he really does like to stare at people quite a bit."

Uncle Fengzhi said nothing, but his eyes gave away enough.

"That must be what you mentioned with him being crafty," Qinghe said. "He tries his best to look like a child, but it is clear he knows more and hides just as much."

Was I that obvious? Or was that a bluff? I at least understood I was dealing with a noble, but it wasn't like my acting wasn't genuine per se. If I broke character here, it'd confirm his suspicions, and if I didn't then it might cause offense to a possible royal—and maybe uncle.

I sighed and raised my hands. "The act does indeed get tiring." I rolled my shoulders and shifted my stance to one foot, one hand against the other hip.

Qinghe laughed hearty and true. "I expected as much from a dear friend of the Seven Treasure clan's she-devil."

I grimaced at him. "She really hates that nickname brother Qinghe." And she'd given me no end of grief whenever I tried to use it on her before.

"I can see you're still up to your little games," uncle said. "But at least I can rest easy knowing you're looking out for my daughter." He clapped softly. "Still, the Imperial Academy you say, surely there is a reason for this?"

I recounted the harrowing events that led to our coming here starting only from the Spirit Arena—since that ant nest fiasco was best left to Rongrong herself. Impressed was a good word to describe the two, and by the end of it, Qinghe only had one thing to say.

"You truly are already at the thirty-eighth rank?" He was dead serious.

"Thirty-seventh," I corrected him. "And it wasn't easy, no."

Awe, perhaps. Maybe wariness, and a little respect. His gaze spoke volumes, but his tone held weight. "And how old are you now?"

"Just about to turn twelve," I said.

Uncle nodded. "And my daughter is now at?"

"She's at the thirty-third rank, uncle."

Qinghe put a hand to his chin. "Four ranks ahead of someone who awakened at full innate spirit power… and a year younger as well… quite a monster, now are you?" The teen smiled. "You must be from the three great sects, then?"

Putting two and two together wasn't any great leap of logic. That conclusion was more or less a given, but it was a little strange to hear of someone make use of the 'three' sects since everyone and their grandma knew of the alleged sorry state of our Clear Sky clan. Which again calls to question just how much uncle Ning had revealed to him about my origins. However, uncle Fengzhi never did find out about my merged spirits. He only knew I came from the Clear Sky sect.

Today was just as good a time to reveal my Crown.

I scratched my cheek. "I was born with a variant spirit, brother Qinghe," I said. "It is called the Amber Crown and it is this which has allowed me my supposed talent. And if it is to be believed, it may even hint of a resonance with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Uncle Fengzhi's eyes narrowed for the slightest bit. I'd never shown him my spirit before, but he knew what I should have. "And have you tried to use this fusion before?"

I didn't have to be a goddamn genius to figure out what a spirit fusion meant. That our spirits were the manifestations of our souls meant that a fusion was nothing short of having our souls mix together in a manner more intimate than any physical contact could. For this one, I didn't even have to lie. "I'd never tried, uncle. Nor do I have any plans at all be it now or in the immediate future. I am at least sensible enough to know it is untoward to do so. And as much as strength may be valued by this world, it is still up to both people to decide so if they wish."

Qinghe pursed his lips. "We are talking about spirit fusion, yes?"

I wasn't about to grace that hook with my lip.

I actually felt my Crown tremble from within, and no doubt Qinghe felt uncle Fengzhi's perturbance as well. "And had Rongrong tried to do this fusion with you?"

"I wouldn't let her if she even pestered me for it. I may be young, but I have my principles, uncle."

The wave of cold mellowed out. Uncle Fengzhi had no power to attack so to speak, but the pressure of a seventy something ranked spirit master was still something to behold. Not even the quality of my spirit rings could bridge such a gap in cultivation.

Uncle Fengzhi laid a hand on my shoulder. "Good child, very good indeed."

His grip tightened.

"And what was this I heard about a spirit bone?"

#

By the end of it all, Qinghe was the one who saved my ass after uncle had wrung me clean of all the half-truths I'd told. He never approached the matters of my origins, but damn did he get everything from the very start from when Rongrong met me in Suotuo Village while looking for Shrek Academy. It was the greater part of a year I had to convey in a matter of minutes, more to confirm what he'd already known from his numerous spies and fill in the gaps with our personal accounts.

I had no love for Rongrong's father, but I could appreciate someone who respected the power of knowledge as much as he did. Ah, and the paranoia. That was another thing I respected him for.

After the two left, Sword douluo gave me a quick visit and a pat on the back commending me for my foresight with giving Rongrong a torso spirit bone for extra protection.

Yeah. I expected that much.

I ran straight for the Moon Pavilion from there—but not before making a quick visit to the Millennium Chef's Parade restaurant to get my aunt some dumplings. More a peace offering than anything. The streets didn't change much these last few years, and I still knew my way around like the back of my hand.

I arrived at the Moon Pavilion and found uncle Wei cleaning by the road side and looking every bit as inconspicuous as he could. He was the one in charge of screening out the miscreants who came to the place looking for trouble, but he never acted on his own, always via uniformed proxies: auntie's actual guards. He was more of a head of security of sorts, and he usually tried to meet people with magnanimity, but more often enough nobles would go so far as to act like thugs just to get their way. It was for those times that he wore them fancy purple robes of his showing his status as the Pavilion's manager.

He saw me and waved, and the two guards in black at the front of the house both gave me a small bow.

I waved back at them all and uncle Wei lead me inside of the Pavilion's wrought iron gates—one of the few improvements to the place's security my auntie approved of. Originally, the place only had a solid wooden gate that prevented people outside from seeing in, which defeated the purpose of showing off the refined people and architecture within. So it became a compromise between security and pride. But with these, the gates could show off the inside in the morning and the wooden ones can provide further security at night.

Only after we were away from the public eye did he ruffle my hair with a smile. "Welcome back young master."

"Good to be back as well uncle Wei," I said.

He nodded. "Still pretending to be a sly merchant, I believe?"

I shrugged. "After making a sizeable fortune, I believe it's about time to expand my ventures even further."

Uncle Wei shook his head. "I'm more afraid to think you were serious."

"That depends," I said. "I don't know if I'll find a good enough manager who won't steal from under my nose."

He shivered. "Let's just get you inside before you end up deciding to overthrow this empire or something."

I waved my hand in front of me. "Bah, too troublesome."

"Aiyah, and that, is why I'm worried."

He lead me further in through the heavy wooden double doors and past a long hallway that lead into the main hall. On either side were rows of sofas, another invention of mine that combined luxurious silken cushions with simple yet elegant woods with carved in designs. Young men and women sat about engaged in small talk, all of them easily in their late teens and early twenties, when I came in, all eyes went to me.

The room went silent.

And yet on we went without a care for the attention, uncle Wei lead me up the central staircase that lead up to the residential section. Conversations restarted after we passed with a few mentions of the young boy being lead by the manager.

Another two guards stood in front of the entrance to auntie's receiving chamber. They let us in before bowing as we passed. And at last I was back to my second home. I'd spend a lot of time moving between Nuoding, here, and the sect home, and all three of them equally had places in my heart. And I guess that thing about growing with travels and adversity really did come true. I hadn't grown this fast in terms of my cultivation for so long, to actually build up almost twenty ranks of spirit power in the span of near two years.

Uncle Wei then rang a bell, and a moment or so later came a pair of delicate footsteps.

She was wearing a soft lavender robe that had goldwork incorporated into it, and when she saw me, her eyes went wide and she half-ran to close the distance between us. Auntie was usually a more refined person, but she too had her moments.

Uncle Wei left us shortly after.

"Little Jin!" she said as she pulled me into a hug. "You better have the usual." Auntie smelled of her usual wildflower perfume, even though I'd made a few others for her through the years.

Pressing flowers using hot olive oil was something not previously considered, and after a few years of introducing things I'd learned auntie gave in enough to turn them into business ventures. Now, the Moon Pavilion had a few businesses running with it as its main backer, and I had quite a few royalties paid to my name—through auntie that is.

Bras, panties, oil based perfumes, suspension springs for carriages, cotton cushions for seating, cotton pillows for sleeping, cotton duvets for bedding; most of the more esoteric technologies of my world were still outside of my reach like air-conditioning, but I knew a few things about architecture like the wind catcher towers of Egypt, or keystone style load-bearing arches, stone brick making and mortar, and my personal masterpiece: the proto-mattress using a combination of reed lattices, layers of thick linen, and finally a cotton duvet to allow for a truly luxurious bed.

I couldn't find any trustworthy managers to grow my businesses for me, but that wasn't the same for aunt Yuehua.

I summoned her dumplings from Inventory. "Of course, auntie. I wouldn't dare show my face here without a tribute."

She snatched them from my hand, then gave me one last squeeze before pulling away. Ever the tease, this one. Well, no. Not really. I just wished she was. "Your grandpas are staying at the usual villa although that school I'd told you about before had started expanding their lands in these recent years for their mimicry cultivation grounds."

That school she mentioned could only be that Blue Tyrant academy. "Hmm, interesting for them to be making enough money for that." It was a school that only took in commoners for students, as well as offered a scholarship program for those who couldn't afford their fees. It was an academy I approved of well and had I not ended up in Shrek according to uncle Xiaogang's recommendation, I might've ended up there instead. The school didn't really matter to me, only the experiences they could provide.

"About that," auntie said.

"Ah, you backed them?"

"That Liu Erlong left a good impression on me," she said. "And I thought, perhaps with a little bit more money they could even take the championship from Spirit Hall. A petty vengeance, but even a lady has her weaknesses."

I nodded. "Anything to help undermine Spirit Hall would be good." But now that I had the time to think about things, were they really the enemy? I had yet to show off my spirit to anyone from Spirit Hall, but it's not like they were downright hostile, right?

"I'm glad you agree," she said with a nod. She straightened herself out before continuing, "And now I believe you have some business to discuss?"

"As always auntie, you know me too well." I guess she enjoyed the things I found interesting enough. "I've come to know of a few curious things as well as a need for information."

She smiled. "Well?"

"So far, I've come into contact with two interesting people: Dugu Bo the Poison Douluo, and Xue Qinghe, the student of uncle Fengzhi. Anything you know on those two would be a big help."

Auntie's eyes shone like a tiger's on the prowl. "Interesting how you mentioned those names," she said. "And in what context did you come across them?"

I recounted to her the events of the dinner, then added the backstory of how we ended up in that situation in the first place all the way back to the Spirit Arena plus a few more things before that. The ant nest story was cleaned up of any gore, and the part where I had my gut opened and was only saved things to absorbing a spirit ring was left out for my sake. Then came the story of how I bumped into Qinghe and uncle Fengzhi, as well as the conversation that ensued and the surprise on uncle Fengzhi's face when I more or less indicated to him the possibility of my having twin spirits.

Auntie closed her eyes. "Interesting indeed. For that contemptible Dugu Bo to be so attached to royalty like you confirmed just now. Very interesting indeed." She walked over to one of her recliners, another of my business ventures, and sat. "There have been rumors in the nobles' circles lately how Poison Douluo was there not as a guard, but as an expert on poisons. There were rumors how the older two princes, the first and second ones, were killed via poison, and this must be a response to that."

"So you mean to say someone else poisoned the princes?"

Auntie nodded. "That's what the story circulating says." She put a finger to her cheek. "As for Xue Qinghe, he became the student of Ning Fengzhi some two or so years ago so you probably never got to ask me for that, and at the time it wasn't relevant, but now that you say he's his student, then the Seven Treasure clan has already chosen who to support."

"So the emperor was planning to abdicate the throne soon?" Auntie had already taught me that succession wars were a thing in the Heaven Dou royal family, so it was possible there'd be a fight for the crown soon enough.

"Perhaps," she said. "Although I feel it too soon to think of a connection between the two. There is a chance of course, but right now you only have your guesses to go by." Auntie loved these cloak and dagger stuff and figuring out people's secrets. It was a past time for her, and a useful hobby for the sect. We were kept up to date and in a position of relative control thanks to her and her efforts. She took well to my manner of making presumptions and confirming them, and she as well dabbled in her own little projects from time to time.

Still though, it struck me odd how the emperor would take two years to announce such an event. "Auntie, when did Dugu Bo start to guard the princes anyway?"

"About two years ago," she said. "Around the same time Qinghe was chosen by Ning Fengzi. You are thinking that is an interesting coincidence?"

"Yes," I confessed. "It seems to be the easiest choice, but as you said, things truly could have simply happened in that order of events. Although I find it strange how far away the emperor had between his abdication which there don't seem to be any rumors of." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless there have been?"

She sighed. "Sorry little Jin, but these nobles love to gossip too much and any information from them is bound to be embellished. And you believe Qinghe is somewhat related to the poisoning of his brothers?"

"Yeah," I said. "Because if he truly was someone who wasn't known to poisons, then shouldn't he prefer the protection of someone familiar with the tools that took the lives of his siblings? I mean, even if he had no love for them, he didn't sound like he feared poison and instead knowingly attached himself to thr Seven Treasure clan even if there was a Dugu Bo already there."

Auntie nodded. "That is not impossible, but it presumes too many things. I'll keep an eye on the situation then for any new developments."

"Thank you," I said.

Then she smiled. "Still, I find this sudden interest of yours in Qinghe rather… timely. Would it perhaps be related to him being your uncle Fengzhi's student?" There was a sly light in her eyes. "And perhaps, how close he might be in position to, I don't know, be engaged ahead of you?"

That left a blank.

"What?" I said. "I didn't say all that because I'm jealous. But instead I just found him so suspicious."

She smiled again. "If you say so, little Jin."

I waved away her teasing. "And I have another matter I'd like to discuss, but this I need grandpas Shan and Lin first since it concerns Dugu Bo and Tang San."

Auntie narrowed her eyes. "Was there something bad between them?"

"No, nothing like that. But perhaps Tang San may be able to help us shed some light on a few of our questions. He said Dugu Bo wasn't as good with poisons as people might think since the man got poisoned by his own devices."

Auntie raised an eyebrow. "Brother Hao's son knows about poisons?"

I wanted to roll my eyes, but instead settled for saying, "It's easier if I just explain it all in one go."

After that auntie changed into some less conspicuous clothes before leading me out through one of her back exits out of the Moon Pavilion. Uncle Wei came with us as a guard, likewise dressed in unmarked brown robes. We made our way towards the Blue Tyrant academy's general area and traced entered the surrounding forest from there. It was a simple matter then to follow the path of their wall until a beaten off path that eventually led to one of the still standing outposts of our old sect.

It was a sturdy little enclosure enough to house a garrison of some twenty or so people and their families, and it stood the test of time thanks to the ingenuity of the One Defense clan that had been one of our subordinate sects back then.

This little house was kept away from so many people and now only housed like one or two people who changed shifts everyday just to maintain it. And this was where my grandpas and I would stay at times whenever we visited the capital together with uncles Hu and Zhi.

Our little group of three arrived by the gates and were met by one of the two guards stationed there. He recognized uncle Wei and let us in before the other one came and guided us into the inner house where my grandpas were.

Only after we entered the little fortified house did we put down our hoods.

"Finally you visit us," grandpa Shan said. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about us little Jin."

Grandpa Lin rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to his sulking, he was the one excited here asking every single day when you'd visit."

"I'm not denying that," grandpa Shan said. "And little Yuehua is here as well, something big must be happening then?"

"Besides a possible plot to usurp the throne and a very real threat of a succession war in our midst," I said, "I think I have something even bigger than that."

Grandpa Shan smiled. "Well, look at that, little Jin looking for trouble for once, that's a first."

I put my hands together and rubbed them before pointing my finger tips to him. "About that, actually, it's San's plan."

"Well?" grandpa Lin said. "I'm expecting big things now."

Auntie meanwhile was just shaking her head.

I took a deep breath and said, "How would you two like to help me and San out with blackmailing the Poison Douluo?"

"At least he didn't say Sword Douluo," uncle Wei said.


	39. Chapter 39

Grandpa Shan furrowed his brows at me before sharing a look with grandpa Lin. Auntie blinked once before turning her head just the slightest to the side, and uncle Wei kept on shaking his head. I knew this plan was doomed from the start, and to even consider screwing around with a Titled Douluo with Poison as his official epithet was a bad idea through and through regardless of how sure Tang San was of himself. However, it wasn't in character for me to lie with a straight face—at least to my friends and family, that is.

Besides there was always having Tang San pitch his idea himself. Yeah, I was more or less the sect leader apparent, but that didn't mean I was an absolute. My decisions were not final—less so that I wasn't the actual sect leader yet.

"Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase that," I said.

"No, little Jin." Grandpa Lin huffed out a bellow. "As much of a monster little Hao's son might be, for us to go against old Poison with a junior's knowledge of poisons is too much of a risk to not just our own safeties, but also that of the sect's." He shook his head. "This talk of coercing old Poison using the weight of our name and power is normally acceptable, but I do not trust the vicious nature of that old man."

Grandpa Shan nodded along. "What stops him from going after you or little San even if he is indeed successful with curing his granddaughter?"

"And there are too many risks," auntie said. "I understand you most likely want to make use of this opportunity as well to investigate the matters behind Qinghe, but you must understand this would earn the ire not just of one prince, but both as well as the current one and with only conjectures to go about."

They all had chiding looks, each one disapproving in their own way.

I sighed. "Actually, I agree with all that, to be honest."

"I'm glad you see our—" Auntie looked at me funny. "What did you just say?"

Tongue in cheek, I said, "I don't like this plan."

Grandpa Shan shared a look with grandpa Lin, who sneered back at him. Grandpa Lin pursed his lips. "Then why tell us?"

I scratched my cheek. "To be real frank, I was more in favor of just killing him off." I don't know how much of this San was alright with me revealing, but all that talk of these treasures was too much of a temptation to pass off. But, since when did I approve of killing others just so for my own gain. I mean, if the guy was really that much trouble to deal with, then wasn't the easiest answer to just take care of it before it becomes a problem in the first place?

Auntie's gaze turned cold. "Do you have a reason for this?"

I told them all about the things Tang San told me about the great treasure bowls and his own search for poison, plus the fact—or conjecture that Dugu Bo really was being weakened by his supposed poisoning. Once I considered the pros and cons of it, it wasn't as easy a choice. The man was a weakened Titled Douluo, assuming Tang San was indeed correct, and I had no doubts he would have at least one suitable spirit bone on him. Then there were those treasures Tang San mentioned had poisons, and where there were poisons, there would also be elixirs. Perhaps Dugu Bo had access to other such kinds of places, but again it was all conjecture at this point.

How… callous of me, to weigh the value of a life.

"It is indeed tempting," auntie said.

"And given how much of a bad reputation the old man has, it wouldn't be that difficult to justify his death if we are ever confronted by it—that is, if we even admit to being the ones to do so." It was rather easy to just list off the facts as they were, consequences be damned. "Dugu Yan is much weaker than me at already so close to twenty, and so is that Tianheng. And given he's one of the three great sects and experiencing the world just like I and Rongrong, then it wasn't that much of a stretch to say he has a high standing in their sect."

Tianheng had never mentioned any matters before about his clan, but to be connected to the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo meant he at least had the heritage to support the old man's favor. This world was a rather sad place to have so much emphasis on strength that people actually bred favorable variations of their hereditary spirits and basically cut off those that didn't make the cut: case in point, the matter of uncle Xiaogang.

"Devious," grandpa Shan said. "So young and already so calculating." The old man looked beyond the windows. "At times it makes me wonder if we placed too much on your shoulders, seeing you like this."

"We have," grandpa Lin said.

The room started trembling, and I could feel my Hammer tremble in response to the overbearing pressure he exuded. Uncle Wei strained against the effort, but both I and auntie were unfazed from the anguish of the spirit we shared.

Grandpa Lin breathed deep as the pressure let off before continuing, "But this too is so we don't make the same mistake before with Hao. We cannot remain as removed from our own, and we too cannot allow our own to act without the good of the sect in mind."

"You shouldn't have to do this," grandpa Lin said. "And yet it is because us old men are so weak that we can only leave it to you." He stood from his seat and went down on one knee so he could be eye level with me. "Tell me, do you truly believe the death of old Poison would be for the good of the sect?"

Resolve burned steady behind those eyes.

I didn't have any facts to go with, only guesses and hopes. Which was a lot like how life went most of the time back home, it was only here where power was more tangible and had immediate effects, but back then, it was all about flailing about in the dark without certainty. As much as I'd love to have some sort of magic just fix all my problems, even in this world things didn't work the way they did in fairy tales. But all that still didn't answer the question in front of me. Did I dare risk the safety of my own grandpas with facing off against someone else who actually had the power to hurt them all for the sake of a few guesses. Maybe, just maybe, there was a better way to do this that didn't have to involve anyone getting hurt.

But for that to happen, I needed to start somewhere.

"No," I said. "Dugu Bo could instead prove more useful to us alive given his connection to the princes. We don't have a use for it right now, but if somehow the royal family could owe us a favor, it would be only an advantage to us." To be able to think two or three steps ahead was usually a trait reserved for main characters, but who knew making all this shit up as I went would be just as close to writing. I didn't know if all these theories and conjectures were helping, but at best it could shed some light on the ever branching number of futures ahead of us. "Regardless of the risk, there is too high of a chance my grandpas could get hurt, and this is something the sect cannot afford. We only have so many Titled Douluos, and to lose any of you would be to cripple the clan's current strength."

All three of them nodded to my words.

"It is nice to know our little master cares," grandpa Shan said. "However, we still cannot deny that this could indeed prove beneficial to the clan—if it could help you and San reach our own power in twenty or thirty years, than that would already be more than enough. Perhaps the rise of our sect won't come with us elders' lifetime, but we would know our family was in good hands at the very least."

I turned to auntie. "Is there anything else we can do? To blackmail Poison Douluo would be to open our family to retaliation, and to kill him would likewise open our family to risk. I do not know of anything I can bargain with, but San says he is able to cure him of his poison."

She smiled something warm. "Then why not use that?" she said. "An exchange of mutual benefit is always an option. And if he really is as weakened as little San says, then all the more reason he should agree to the exchange. "

I pursed my lips. "Which brings us back to the original plan?"

Auntie Yuehua put on a sly smile. "Are we really?"

I frowned. "Strike a deal somehow, wasn't that what I initially said?"

Auntie rested her cheek against her hand. "I sometimes forget I'm still dealing with a child."

Wait. I think my pride just went down the drain from there.

She continued, "If we strike a bargain from a position of power, it would be coercion, but if the deal is made in mutual benefit, wouldn't that be a more amicable outcome?"

"All this talk of poisons and treasured plants makes me wish we still had the Medicine Hall," grandpa Lin said, "perhaps that stiff old goat would've found a way to make this go easier."

Grandpa Shan nodded. "Indeed, but their own grudges against us run just as deep as ours for Spirit Hall. It would take a miracle for them to cooperate with us now, much less even stay in the same room for longer than a joss stick's time."

Auntie waved a hand. "To try and resolve our grievances with the four clans now would take too long, it can be a matter for later."

I wracked my head for something else to give, but all that came up was to maybe invite him into the sect. And unless we actually got the agreement of the other elders, I wouldn't be able to do that. "But what sorts of benefits could we offer Dugu Bo other than his healing?"

"This would've been a nice time to have Yang Wudi's input," she said before giving my grandpas a playful shrug. "That, and it would be nice as well to have the information network of the speed hall."

"Wishful thinking," grandpa Lin said.

I hadn't heard much besides what father had already told me about the four clans and their respective disciplines: the strength clan and blacksmithing, the speed clan and reconnaissance, the medicine clan and well, medicines and poisons, and last was the defense clan and architecture. A few of my cousins from the older generations had family related to our other subordinate clans at the time, but most of them still inherited the stronger of the spirits—our Hammer. Were they worth all this attention though? I couldn't tell.

Just like how I didn't have enough information to pin my accusations on Qinghe. And besides, it's not like the guy gave me any reasons to suspect him either. For all I know he could just as easily be the one keeping his distance from Poison Douluo for fear of his life, and his attaching himself to uncle Fengzhi was his way to keep himself alive.

But that was a matter for later, for now we needed to get back on track. "If the four clans are so close to each other, I'd heard the strength clan had its home nearby, that could be another point we could pursue after this?"

Auntie hummed. "I as well am aware Tai Tan comes and goes between the capital and Gengxin city." She nodded. "Now, for the matter of little San and Dugu Bo."

Grandpa Shan stroked his beard. "Did little San ever say how he would cure the granddaughter?"

"Now that you mentioned it…." I thought back to our conversations and it was mostly filled with more guesses as to what allowed Dugu Bo to live as opposed to hearing a concrete plan with how to deal with Dugu Bo and his granddaughter's poisoning. "Maybe I should bring San here instead?"

Auntie clapped softly. "I would very much like to finally see my second brother's child.

Which meant a quick trip back to the academy assuming San was even there. I probably should've brought him from the start, but I wasn't sure how my grandpas could take San's being another bullshit reincarnator without passing through me first as a primary source of bullshit. Had I not given them this backstory, maybe this conversation we were having could have gone towards a completely different direction—outright rejection was always another possibility.

It wasn't like we had to accomplish everything by today. "Maybe we can leave it for tomorrow?"

I didn't get any negatives.

"Ah," grandpa Shan said, "and don't forget to bring little Wu as well."

"Why do I feel you have something bad in mind?" I said.

Grandpa Lin gave grandpa Shan the stinkeye.

Auntie drew her brows together, eyes narrowed at the man. "What aren't you telling me?"

They lost me there. "Have we forgotten to mention anything about sister Wu?"

Auntie's gaze snapped to me. "Sister?"

"Oh," I said. "That."

#

We all went our separate ways from there. Me back to the academy on my own, auntie together with uncle Wei back to the Pavilion, and my grandpas, well, stayed where they were. Sure, not a lot of things could stop them if they really wanted to go somewhere, but that also meant they couldn't keep anonymous. I was to bring Xiao Wu and Tang San back here tomorrow to finalize the details of our plans, and well, I then had the rest of the day to myself. Rushing wasn't going to do us all any good, and these things took more than just a good plan to properly execute. Luck, unfortunately, was still a big part in the events that would transpire from here on out, and any and all information I or auntie's friends could gather on Dugu Bo the better.

As for the matter with Qinghe, uncle Fengzhi taking him in couldn't make him a bad guy, so this one I'd probably have to be all buddy buddy with from time to time. Then again, it wasn't like I was really going for Rongrong… I mean, their opinion as a clan, mattered to me as a future sect leader? Yeah, let's go with that. Romance was a matter for the future—and if uncle really did want Qinghe for Rongrong, well, the final say was still up to her.

I shook my head to clear away these unnecessary thoughts as I pushed more spirit power to fill my limbs. The part about body parts glowing from a saturation of spirit power was a pretty low point, but I guess it could also be used for obscuring one's features? Maybe the next time I needed to stay anonymous I could concentrate a shit ton of spirit power over my face—because literally burning my brain was probably a bad idea. Not that I'd ever tried it.

I went straight back to the academy without any detours, too excited about all the little stupid things I was about to get into like a little kid. Which I was. After changing into more appropriate clothes in our shared dorms, I went straight for one of the schools many many deserted areas—and found a couple making out.

Typical.

Woven straw soles barely made any sound even when walking on cobblestones, more so along grass and dirt, and with my body saturated with spirit power, I was able to feel things more clearly. Hence, my being aware of how much noise I was making, and how much I was able to muffle it by walking with deliberation. Thus, placing me into this predicament. And hormones were hormones alright, with so many warm bodies nearby, all of them ripe for the taking and probably all of respectable family backgrounds. It was really only a matter of time. Aiyah.

Welp, I wasn't an asshole, so I left the frisky pair to their devices.

Two more couples and a very sketchy group session later, I finally found a little retreat of trees near the plant system mimicry environment—and the entrance to a cave cut into a small hill. A sign by the entrance marked it as the treasure system mimicry environment, and I guess it was sheer dumb luck that I ended up here. I was registered under the Heaven Dou Imperial academy's records as possessing just my Crown, and for me to cultivate elsewhere than here would mark me as a weirdo.

Eh, whatever. I'll deal with this possible suffocation trap later. I went ahead and dove into the copse of trees that hid a little glade just behind them, eager to cut loose and just do whatever. I had on a heavy robe to the glow of my body beneath from view, and the very image of where I was standing—a hidden away pocket of wild grasses and flowers surrounded by trees, plus my glowing skin—reminded me of a certain scene from an old book I read but couldn't quite place my finger on.

After getting used to the burning feeling of making my hand glow over the last few days, I figured, it was time to try and extend that. I more or less already figured out the possibility of consuming spirit power to allow me to cultivate while moving, but to actually cultivate using the normal process while moving was something I was yet to do. I still had a few things on my to do list, but it was best to start with the simplest one first.

I breathed in deep before slowly building up spirit power into both fists—the percentages rising quickly in Interface as they both started glowing a few seconds later. The initial burning was now a dull heat—hot, but no longer unbearable.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and started the saturation down to my wrists.

The saturation cut a border between the already filled to glowing parts burning white hot with a particularly intense agony just like the first time I did it with my hands—but knowing it had no negative effects on my body, I pushed on with the inferno inch by grueling inch down to my forearms. But this burning baptism was still nothing compared to immersing myself in the bloodied guts of that queen ant, not to mention doing so with a hastily patch up gut opened by that soldier ant. I feel having this high a pain tolerance at such a young age was likely a bad thing, but I wasn't going to turn down my blessings now.

The heat went up to my elbows.

I pushed through with the pain.

Half almost to scream, another half so morbidly curious.

It reached my shoulders. I wasn't even close yet to full. It was like bathing in fire with my hands held high as livid flames poured down. Like a waterfall of boiling water except dialed up to eleven. Along Interface, my body lit up in white as the glow filled me up. That's when I started filling my body.

A whimper left my mouth. And on I went, the pain giving way to clarity and a presence of mind so potent I swore I could feel my spirit power swirl and churn within my already glowing body parts.

Down it went to my chest—my heart was unperturbed.

Down my belly.

Down my legs, and eventually all the way down to my toes.

I was immersed in fire, my entirety was fire, my mind's eye was submerged in a world of bright blinding pain.

And still I went on pushing.

My limbs had never felt more there, and my heart beat strong against my chest, each pulse of it stirring my spirit power to resonate everywhere else. I didn't feel any stronger from all the spirit power invested into my body, but… it was a steady feeling full of clarity, like I was truly here in this moment. That I was truly alive.

I clenched my fists tighter, my nails dug into my palms. I was maintaining a sort of trance that allowed me push away the pain from my mind, a sort of meditation in suffering to feel the horrid flames yet not dwell in them. I didn't know if anyone was watching me, or whatever I currently looked like even with my robes. But there wasn't anything bad happening. Unless willingly pushing myself into a mock immolation counted.

I was pretty sure I wasn't a masochist.

The only logical step from here was to move up and allow the spirit power to saturate my neck, my face, my eyes, then up to the very top of my head. It was, a lot easier than I thought to reach this state. And it might've been a super mode or something, but all there was was pain in this state.

I stayed there in the moment. I was wielding a power I could only dream of, and now I was pushing the very bounds of what this world knew. I was also drowning in a sea of fire. But progress demanded sacrifice, and if my hands were any indication, this pain too would pass—but who would know what sort of benefits this would give? Or what damage it would do? No one.

Except maybe Tang San.

He came from a similar world to this one that made use of spirit power, and if his assessment of my body before was any indication, then I still wasn't close to reaching any sort of limit.

In this mass of spirit power, in the all encompassing awareness, I felt my spirits were there as an ever present constant. And so too were my chakras churning constantly. My spirit power wasn't getting consumed, only being used to fill what was already there. It was contained somewhere, but it held more than it manifested. What exactly was the source of spirit power in the body anyway? I was just so used to it emanating outwards from my belly—the dantian, or the second chakra, but was it possible to also come from my other chakras? What if it came from the first? Or from the seventh? Would the quality of it change? And if all together? And if nowhere from the chakras? Like my hand or my foot?

Regardless, I first needed to see what became of me.

I opened my eyes.

And saw the world before me like a still life painting, almost perfect in every hue and filled with an unmistakable glow. My hands were glowing like I'd expected. But I also wanted to see whether this glow could indeed conceal my features.

I felt for Inventory to summon a mirror—and pulled it out of its pocket dimension, only to have almost all my stuff come crashing outwards and spill everywhere all at once.

Then my bed came out of nowhere and hit me in the face.

The pain from that didn't even register from the flames I were immersed in. My shit was getting dirty. My all important bed and bedding, fancy clothes and food and all that water I had the bright idea of keeping in thin barrels because I didn't think it'd ever end up getting thrashed or anything. All that was on the ground, soaked and dusted and all manners of broken—and I was seeing in full high definition all the chaos I'd wrought on my crap.  
Man, I didn't think seeing that would hurt more than all this.

And now came a decision. Did I stop my experiments now in favor of cleaning up? Or did I push through despite the pain of my stuff getting dirty and shit and soaked and just generally messed up gave me. To be fair, all the stuff was already dirty anyway, but things that hurt still hurt. And apparently a trance of physical pain still couldn't distract from profound emotional pain.

Damn, uncle Hao must've felt like total shit at the time…

Frustration, perhaps, caused my bright ass—no pun intended—to force all that spirit power filling my body and jam into my second spirit ring to let out an explosion like I'd done earlier that caused the mishap with Rongrong's hair.

So I did—without regard, hoping against hope that there would be some good coming out of this.

Then my purple ring grew larger and started glowing white as opposed to the brilliant purple before. Again, another first. And it wasn't the kind of white of a ten year ring either. I was about to summon my Domain when the strength left my body just then, and I found that I'd already lost more than half my spirit power.

That's when cracks started appearing on my spirit ring—and I felt the metaphorical breaking of the dam.

"Oh, shit."

Everything went white in a hail of lightning, and my sorry ass weak as hell just sat there unable to stop the ensuing destruction of all my stuff and half the clearing.


	40. Chapter 40

The explosion of fire and lighting flung me hard against the trees.

My body crashed clean through a trunk and slammed against another one behind it, pushing all the air out of my lungs, then I fell like a log against gnarled roots and grass. I was hurt, but not in pain. Not all physical at least.

I raised my head and took all that destruction in: the bed I'd travelled with over the years, all my little knickknacks and even the explosives I'd so carefully stockpiled all went up in a grand spectacle of light.

All because I'd been too annoyed to think about how I should've proceeded with handling that unknown situation. It was an eye opening experience. Interface had a few minor alarms notifying of some few bruises and cuts, but nothing a solid night of cultivation wouldn't fix.

I got up without issue, though I was still pretty numb from having just bathed in metaphorical fire. My spirit power had taken a big hit and I was only at around forty or so left. I wiped the mud off my face, my hand crackling with electricity frying some of the wet earth dry.

I stopped and stared at the sparks dancing over my skin.

I pushed both hands away from my body and turned them over and under, unsure of what I'd seen and yet here I was covered in a layer of electricity somehow. I pulled my sleeves over my arms, and everywhere I looked my skin had writhing little snakes make their way back and forth. I pulled up my pant legs, looked down the opening of my robes, even checked down there, everywhere crackled. Everywhere. My spirit power wasn't going any lower, and the icon for Shock was now a brilliant blue.

Somehow or another, I'd ended up doing something.

But the thing was, I now only had two spirit rings floating about. I might've shit out all my guts just then as something cold gripped my heart. I just destroyed my spirit ring! And it was from overloading it with spirit power of all things.

That's when the numbness gave way to a grounding sensation, as if my entire body was vibrating—and thankfully there weren't any bad things going off in Interface. What changed, however, was now a faint outline of blue all around the indicator for my body. I touched my face, and for lack of a better word, made ripples move about my skin as I moved. A little part at the back of my head jumped for joy at the discovery, but a bigger part was freaking out from what had just transpired.

I just destroyed a spirit ring—and thankfully my cultivation was still intact at… thirty-nine. I actually just broke through the thirty-ninth rank just then, but at what cost? Was I going to need another spirit ring? Would I also need to try and get another lightning element based one to make up for the hole in my configuration?

I slapped my cheeks with both hands, and sparks flew from where they hit. I'd already chosen my curiosity over my possessions, and the pain now in my heart was my fault because of that. Or at least I hoped it wasn't literal. The damned ring did come from a moth whose scales, could after all, stop hearts from pumping.

I placed a hand over my chest and didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, just like my Interface said. Good. My priorities now were to get back whatever I could recover.

I expanded my Domain over the wreckage to check for anything to salvage, and save for the ores I'd been stockpiling for San as well as the Hidden Weapons he'd made for me, not much else survived. My vibrating body couldn't distract me enough from the sorrow of all that history lost.

My fingers went stiff—not from electricity but from the blood receding. My heart slowed in time as the ringing in my ears came to a crescendo.

I slapped myself again to focus on the now. As much as I wanted to cry over the memories associated with my stuff, that wasn't going to solve anything. All those years, and all that attachment to the things I'd come to call my own more than my home or the things I had, well, it wasn't easy.

But I'd grieve later on after I saw this shit storm through to the end.

I recalled all that into my ring without any problems. The earlier mishap of bringing everything out must've been due to how much spirit power was saturating my body. Summoning items from my ring took spirit power, albeit a negligible amount, and I guess reversing that process—that is, using more than needed—had the unintended effect of making all that spill out.

That was, annoying.

I retracted my Domain and tried to turn off my spirit power, but the blue coloring of Shock's icon wouldn't go away. Was that good? Probably not. But at least I wasn't bleeding spirit power. I retracted my Crown in the hopes of making it stop, but save for the icon in Interface greying out the crown indicator, I was still covered in electricity.

With hope, whatever I did wasn't permanent. Making a joke of myself for having a shocking personality would get old real fast, and if I really were covered in electricity, then getting frisky would be the least of my worries. At least there ought to be a way to control this somehow. I reinforced myself with spirit power and the electricity crackled louder. That was a good sign. I thinned my spirit power and had it all enter my Crown, and the vibrating feeling receded.

I had some rudimentary control. That was better than most of the shit I ended up pulling off every now and then. With that, I refilled myself with spirit power and made a mad—

—dash into the ground.

That, might not be good. I checked my body again for any issues with Interface, and again there was nothing out of the ordinary save for the blue glow. And if I were more savvy, I'd have said something stupid like my body was moving faster than my mind could process just like all the cliché electricity powers all them anime characters used.

I got up without a hitch, and put one foot in front of the other.

One step done. I took another. Then another. And it made me feel stupid to think all this was exactly how I might've expected a shounen protagonist to discover a new power-up.

I put power into my legs and stepped forward to run, but the next few steps after went haywire and I ended up kicking against the ground and sending myself upwards into the canopy of the sizeable forest within campus grounds.

I reached out to grab a branch but my hand shot out too fast and obliterated my handhold.

Before falling back down to the ground and flat on my face.

Near fortieth rank spirit power was pretty good, all things considered. The sturdiness of my body was a lot better now, enough at least to avoid any injuries from any stupid shenanigans like these, but that didn't solve my lack of a spirit ring nor did it do anything for the electricity riddling my body. Call it morbid then how I was now regretting what I'd been trying to do so hard over the past few days.

Or was that irony? Did it matter though if I fucked up pretty hard?

I pulled my face out of the ground for the third time in just the span of a few minutes.

Okay, so those stupid things just now were the very hallmarks of the cliché electricity based power ups making someone move faster than they could think. And no self-respecting geek would ever deny how cool that would be if it were actually true. I covered myself in my Domain to give myself as much of a boost to my perception as I could—and went forward again as hard as I had to.

Before blazing through the forest under the light of my Crown and to the beat of a very very very energized bunny. My feet were a blur beneath me and yet I knew I was seeing the image of my legs moving clear as day. The ground rushed like a dull greenish brown and yet each leaf and root and branch passed frame by frame in my eyes.

I took to the trees fast enough for gravity to almost have forgotten to make me go down, and in that span of time I'd already kicked off a few trees before landing back on the ground without taking any hits to my pace.

I concentrated the electricity riddling my body into my hand, and from there all that power writhing about my body concentrated into a chirping surging mass of light.

Did I really just find a goddamn super mode?

#

The way back to the dorms was a quick affair—though I made a spectacle of myself running through the treetops and cobblestones where applicable while leaving behind a trail of sparks. This entire thing was lasting pretty long, and now that I saw it, the blue highlight of Shock—but not Thunder Heart Strike—was slowly running out and was about two-thirds of the way now. Which meant it was a timer, most likely, and that this thing was gonna last for some nine minutes give or take.

This thing I had going on was likely non-permanent. But that didn't mean I automatically wouldn't need a new ring. Every now and then I'd need to remind myself with a slap not to panic. I'd been through worse before, and this was a whole lot more manageable than the grass incident.

I had my doubts on whether San or uncle Xiaogang would know about what just happened, but they were the next best things to an expert I had close by.

I arrived at our down and opened the door, my hand burning a few tracks against the heavy wood.

"Are you there, cousin?"

Instead I saw Hongjun with a bowl of noodles.

"Little Jin?" He squinted at me. "Why are you covered in electricity?"

"Not enough time, blew up my spirit ring, I need San or uncle Xiaogang."

He shook his head, not really sure of what to say.

"I need to know where they are."

He stared at me with wide eyes and mouth agape before getting back the sense to say, "Third brother is likely going around exploring with Xiao Wu, and I wouldn't know where to begin with Grandmaster?"

I clicked my tongue. "Thank you. I'll be right back."

"Wait for me!"—

I didn't bother with him since he'd only slow me down. If I did try to go for my grandpas, then this mode could already be over by then but then I'd end up a spectacle going through the streets, and if I took to the outskirts of the city and made my way around to the area of the Blue Tyrant Academy then it'd take too long and this all could run out and I might end up unable to move or something.

The next best thing then was to get a teacher—preferably one from Shrek and have them bring me to the Moon Pavilion. Or, shit. Whatever. I just needed to do something quick.

I ran straight for the house allotted to our teachers and passed student after student with the wind pelting my face strong enough to sweep my blond hair back and my robes to whistle in my wake.

Call it luck then how I came face to face with senior Ming and his students.

"Little Jin?" Senior Ming had a chiding look. "It's dangerous to be going around with your spirit ability in use like that."

I didn't bother with any formalities or anything. "No senior, I did something I didn't expect and now I'm missing a spirit ring. I need help. Please, it is of the utmost importance."

"Missing a spirit ring?" Dugu Yan said with a scrunched up face.

Senior Ming frowned. "I had never encountered such a situation before, but if junior feels it serious, then senior will help. What can I do?"

The blue icon was running out, and I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. "I need help with finding Grandmaster, and I unfortunately don't know where he is."

Tianheng went close to me with one hand out. "This… this is not one of your spirit abilities…"

I met his eyes. "No. No it is not."

Senior Ming put a hand up to his chin. "Senior Meng Shen Ji took the new teachers out to meet the other affiliated groups connected to our academy, so I also don't know where your uncle might be specifically, but perhaps if we took you to the board of directors then they might know of something?"

Shit. But, it's not like I had anything to hide from those old men, and all my impressions of them so far were great. "That could help, yes."

Tianheng kneeled close to me. "Whatever it is you're doing is so remarkably close to when members of our clan first awaken the spirit of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon."

I face palmed. "Are you implying I'm related to—you know what, we can talk about this later." I turned to senior Ming. "Junior will not be polite for now since he is not sure if his life is in danger. Could you please take junior to the board of directors first?"

Tianheng summoned his spirit, three spirit rings floated up behind him and his right hand turned into a large dragon arm easily as large as him. As for how he kept his balance was a miracle in and of itself. "I can carry you there," he said. "Our clans members usually end up unintentionally discharging electricity like you are now, and it would hurt others if they touched you."

I gave him a proper bow. "Thank you for your offer, but I believe it is faster if I run together with you, I just need you to lead the way."

Dugu Yan scowled before stepping up to Tianheng's side. "Such an impertinent brat, you dare make demands and now even refuse our good will while you are asking for help?"

Senior Ming raised his arm to stop her from going further.

I reinforced my body with spirit power and made the constant crackling into a ferocious hiss. "You can try and defeat me later if you really feel the need to teach me a lesson, but for now, the less of a burden I am the faster I might find a solution to my predicament." I gave her a bow as well. "Believe me I really am sorry about the way I'm acting now, but time is of the essence."

Senior Ming cleared his throat. "The board of education resides in a small house nearest to the Treasure System Mimicry Environment since it is a quiet and rarely disturbed place. Unless there is some special function today, which I have not heard of, then they will surely be there."

I wiped my hand down my face—the electricity arcing where skin touched skin. The sparks they made didn't hurt me, thankfully, but the sound was starting to get annoying.

Senior Ming was puzzled. "Little Jin?"

"No, don't mind it, I know the way to there." I looked up at him. "Do you know where specifically?"

"Err, you should be able to find a paved path somewhere behind the hill."

I gave them all another bow. "I'll pay this debt back later, but I believe it is faster if I make my way there alone for now."

Osler and Yu Feng, the background characters that they were showed indignity at my words, and likewise did Dugu Yan. At least senior Ming was gracious enough to not take it as an insult.

"Fine then," Dugu Yan said, "see if us seniors of yours can't keep up."

I didn't have time for this. "Alright."

I pushed spirit power into my legs and the electricity started arcing for the ground, and this made the blue timer run out faster—leaving me now with an approximate five or so minutes. Then I covered myself in my Domain and ran back to where I just came from.

I chanced a look back and saw Osler and Yu Feng easily keeping pace with me—but the others long left behind.

"Weren't you supposed to be a power attack system tool master?" Osler was smirking.

But Yu Feng was just downright confused. "And what did you do with your ring anyway?"

I pointed at the two floating purple rings. "Blew one up, now I'm spewing electricity everywhere."

Something flashed through Osler's expression. "Blow… up?"

I mimed something exploding with my hands.

"Is this a normal everyday thing for you?" Yu Feng said with a grimace.

#

The three of us arrived at the destroyed clearing, and just like senior Ming said, just a few steps away from there and we found the stone path. And lo and behold there was Bai Baishan looking in wonder at the destroyed clearing and a little upset by the terse line his mouth made.

"This was also you?" Osler's gaze was fixed on the mess that used to be my bedding and the small wooden hut I'd often used for camping out with my grandpas on the road.

"You?" Bai Baishan looked at me with a dumb expression.

"Oops?" Yu Feng cringed.

"Yes," I said. "I was doing an experiment with my spirit power and ended up doing this." I gestured at what happened. "And now I'm covered in electricity and missing a spirit ring."

Bai Baishan shook his head and looked at my like I just grew a second head. "Missing a spirit ring? Electricity?"

Osler nudged me with his elbow then yelped when the electricity arced against his skin. He rubbed the part that got zapped.

Bai Baishan put on a chiding look. "It's dangerous to run around while using you spirit abilities."

I rolled my eyes, then willed my two spirit rings in front of me.

"Weren't you at the thirty-eighth rank?" He scratched his head. "And shouldn't you have three purple rings?"

"I blew it up."

His eyes turned to slits, his mouth likewise now a line. "You… what?"

"I put in too much spirit power into my spirit ring and then it exploded and now I'm covered in electricity." I placed both hands palms facing each other and electricity arced between the two surfaces.

"What?"

My shoulders dropped. None of these people were getting what had happened and it was a bad move on my part to even hope I was gonna get anything from them. I didn't blame them that bad for their not knowing, but it was still disappointing to not have anyone to talk to about this predicament. And the next best thing I could think of now was to go to my grandpas—but I needed to be able to show my grandpas what had happened to me before recounting these harrowing after effects. Was I gonna make it there without this electricity thing running out?

I wasn't sure.

I shook my head. And to ask these people for help with bringing me to the Moon Pavilion was just as bad. I may trust them somewhat, but I'd have to deal with the consequences of making this tidbit known about me, and with Tianheng and his team finding out about this later on, it wasn't gonna take a genius to put two and two together that Tang Yuehua was an actual Tang of the Clear Sky Sect. I couldn't put my auntie in that situation and neither could I raise that risk to the sect. The roots of spirit hall ran deep, and to open the possibility of a confrontation anytime soon was to spell our doom.

Senior Ming arrived just then. He gave Bai Baishan a respectful bow and said, "Greetings senior." He turned to me. "Little Jin, I've sent the others to try and look for Grandmaster or Tang San.

"Teacher Qin," Bai Baishan said, "I am terribly confused by all that is happening right now, might you be able to explain more?"

There was also the option of using one of my flares—which got destroyed in that explosion just now. I face palmed. Fuck. And the blue counter was now down to just a third of the way. At least I didn't feel anything horrible, and neither did I feel a roiling rage of spirit power coursing through my body and destroying it from the inside. Those were good things, but having a second opinion was still something.

But without anyone else to rely on right now, I only had me.

I slapped some sense back into my cheeks. Now wasn't the time to panic, and all I could do was to resolve myself for the consequences that came with this. It was my fault in the first place, and to drag these clueless people in any further was only going to frustrate me more and more.

I gave all of them there a bow. "Seniors, this much help is already more than enough, if any of you are indeed able to find Tang San or Grandmaster, please tell them I will be waiting by our dorms. I will do what I can to deal with my situation."

Bai Baishan shook his head. "What face would this senior have if he couldn't help his junior in his time of need. Let me know how I can help, and if it is within my power, I shall do so. We can discuss the details of this matter later."

I dropped my shoulders. I was… resigned to the fate I unknowingly wrought upon myself and resolved now to face what consequences they bore. "I don't know either, unless you've heard before of someone making their spirit ring explode, then there's nothing else I can think of."

Senior Ming stepped up to me. "You are… afraid?"

I looked up to him and sighed. "Well, yes. It is a rather harrowing experience to see that."

"But that speed of yours just now was nowhere near close to what a tool spirit master should be able to do!" Senior Ming's eyes sparkled. "I believe there is nothing to fear, otherwise, this benefit was most likely a blessing instead."

I shook my head. "I've been in this sort of unexpected situation before, and not all of the outcomes were good."

Bai Baishan widened his eyes. "I-I've never even heard of such a matter before," he said with a smile. "A genius who forges his own path, truly, a junior worthy of respect."

Praise wasn't going to reassure me of my fears. "Then a quiet place where I can stay in while waiting for Tang San or Grandmaster would be for the best." I gave them another bow. The vibration of my limbs reminded me of that night so long ago where my own spirit energy almost killed me.

#

"Little Jin!" uncle Xiaogang burst in through the large door of the cave I was in while riding San Pao. "Are you alright?"

Every inch of the cave was covered in my Domain, and all this while I'd been cultivating while wholly focused on my condition. The icon for Shock had returned to its usual dull pink when not in use, and over time my purple ring slowly reformed, thinner at first both in thickness and color, but the more I cultivated the more its color regained its vibrant purple and the thickness of it matched up with my other rings.

"I'm alright, uncle." I still had my eyes closed so I could focus on regaining the spirit power I'd lost earlier, and the inflow was so great here in this cave that part of the energy I was taking in I could even spare to put into my cultivation.

He got off San Pao and retracted his spirit. I didn't need to see to know, him being in my light was enough for me to perceive. "You… are cultivating?"

"Yes, and this treasure system mimicry environment is doing wonders for my Crown." The very moment I stepped into here and my Crown trembled in anticipation, it was like meeting an old friend. It was possibly a quirk of absorbing the queen ant's ring, or maybe my Crown really was a treasure system. And how the hell did a mimicry environment work anyway? Just because there was a lot of something in an area didn't necessarily have to mean that it would be, like, I don't know, more conceptually reinforced? If that was even a thing? Or was it that mimicry environments filled the area with a specific kind of spirit energy? Which wasn't a bad assumption, but then it'd mean that even inanimate objects could transform spirit energy in the air?

Again, more questions than answers and I hadn't even finished answering the ones I already imposed upon myself.

He put a hand to his head. "How are you speaking?"

"What?"

"Your attention should be fully focused on your cultivation."

It was kind of annoying how my perception with my Domain still wasn't enough to feel someone's facial expressions out, but that was a strange statement to make. "I mean, okay, I haven't been able to do this before either, but why wouldn't it be something impossible?"

Uncle shook his head. "Right," he said. "And what was this about exploding spirit rings?"

I recounted to him the events that led up to my ending up here, sparing no detail down to my losing of my treasures. The story was cathartic, and allowed me to better appreciate my loss from a more detached manner. My attachment to my bed in particular was a difficult one to process, and the burnt and broken remains of it still haunted my thoughts even after a few hours had already passed.

"Little Jin, I believe this obsession of yours with your bed and its removal was for the best."

"No uncle, you don't understand, I'd had that bed for so long already."

"And how many years has it been since you last changed the sheets on those?"

Nobody needed to know.

"Little Jin?"

"So I was able to push in spirit power that exceeded the capacity of my spirit ring."

"You haven't answered the question."

"I was also successful with an earlier experiment, but this one only caused my spirit ring to change to a brighter color, but the application was somewhat the same."

Uncle sighed. "Fine, fine. You said you were able to add more spirit power than normal, and how was it that you were even able to say what was normal? Wouldn't your use of spirit power be automatic the moment you use your ability?"

"What I did was to activate my ability without using it. And from there put in more and more spirit power like I do with my body."

Slowly, my cultivation rose towards the fortieth rank.

"You activate your ability… without using it?" He put a hand to his chin. "Can you describe how that works?"

That… was an interesting question. "I will my spirit power to power my ability, but do not allow it to come to execution? If that makes sense? It's the same idea as holding one's breath, except with spirit power and a spirit ring."

"You can control that?"

"You can't?"

"Interesting. A spirit ability is simply that which one is able to do, as for whether one could prevent it from activating or not was always a matter of how much spirit power one had left."

The resonance of this place with my spirit was uncanny, to the point that I felt… one here, like I belonged. It was jarring. "And I'd always seen it as something strange since a spirit ring would just magically change spirit power from one manner to another, and one that is completely unlike but conceptually similar to something related to one's spirit."

Uncle hummed. "So you see it as?"

"I'd always seen everything as a byproduct of cause and effect, and that was always what bothered me. I never understood the underlying cause of what allowed spirit rings to do what they did, and even so simple as how did spirit rings even contain the information and transformational instructions to perform what they did."

"I'm not sure now where you are trying to take this, little Jin."

"I've been thinking," I said. "If spirit beasts' souls really do get dispersed after they are killed."

"We've never had to deal with this matter before," he said, "but seeing how you are likely going to be taking a ten thousand year ring as your next one, I feel it is appropriate to inform you earlier."

"What, that black spirit rings can fight back?"

"Actually," he said with a chuckle, "yes. They can. It's called Soul Shock, and it arises from the resentment of a spirit beast who was slain, and this they do is their last act of spite for the one that slayed them."

And it makes sense that anything alive would indeed resent getting killed. I couldn't even begin to imagine being treated as an object purely for the benefit of another, and to be so commodified even as to be a stepping stone for someone else… wasn't it simply too cruel of a fate for spirit beasts? "So they fight back, and they are aware that someone would indeed try to take their ring—soul from them?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"That's… wrong."

Uncle shrugged. "It's how it's always been."

I opened my eyes and saw the three spirit rings floating around me. Was I also going to be just another slave to the system? And it made it more ominous now how I was actually living together with someone who used to be a spirit beast—and even had to contribute to the death of some of her kin. Well, not literally, but still. It wouldn't sit well with me if I had to witness someone butcher another human being, but as I am now, what other choice did I have? And I couldn't exactly just make people stop taking spirit rings altogether, perhaps it was simply a dog eat dog kind of world? Which didn't make it any better, but…

This… I didn't want to know about this.

"Little Jin… are you crying?"


	41. Chapter 41

We were supposed to have Tang San meet auntie and grandpas Shan and Lin tomorrow, but given the shit I put myself through this afternoon, a meeting was more than recommended just to make sure I didn't screw myself over for real. I left word with Hongjun that San and I were gonna make some rounds at the markets to see what rare metals we could find, and naturally Xiao Wu would tag along because the two were attached at the hip.

Rongrong still wasn't too genial with me after what happened between us, but at least she wished me a good haul. I know messing up her hair like that was a big deal, but I figured my fixing it was at least still something to make up for it.

Oscar, I didn't know where the hell he was, and neither did I know where boss Dai and Zhuqing were. Probably together, but I wasn't gonna hold my breath on that.

Xiao Wu, Tang San, and I walked the road towards the city at a relaxed pace all dressed up in our best clothes—rather, the two of them were since I was in what could only pass for rags, at least for my standards. I mean, my sleeves were torn in places and singed everywhere else, so yeah, pretty damned ragged.

I included dinner in the message I left behind, and uncle Xiaogang didn't see any more reason to look after me than was needed. My spirit ring had regenerated and I was able to make use of my ability from either spirit, so it was already working like normal, though it probably helped that he already knew where we were going. He decided against coming with us since as weak as he was, he was still famous among Spirit Hall's members for writing his Ten Core Principles—since not a lot of people actually bothered writing down their findings, much less publish them for use by the general public.

Loath as uncle was at admitting to it, but Spirit Hall had a reason for being as prolific as they were.

They practically gave out money to people to encourage them to cultivate, and keep doing so to a high enough level that a handful of them in every village would be able to fend off a bandit attack all by themselves. Of course, this system went both ways in that as long as the bandits themselves didn't get caught, then they too could benefit from Spirit Hall's system if they didn't get flagged. They were a lot like an evil university that welcomed anyone who wanted to pursue a doctorate in exchange for a life long residency that sucked up all the proceeds of their victims' research and subsidiaries.

Hmm, that was a bit too ominous a coincidence for me, still the benefits didn't end there.

Stipends only went as high as the thirtieth rank, but just that was already enough to live a comfortable life safe from most harm—save for the really exceptional cases where one actually dared get into trouble. The population more or less tapered off every ten percent per spirit ring rank thanks to some historical censuses provided by—as expected—Spirit Hall, such that in any given population, ten percent of the people there would have a rank between one to ten, then from that population of one to ten, another ten percent would be able to reach somewhere within eleven to twenty, and so on and so forth.

However, these statistics got skewed whenever one had one of the great clans involved, or even the lesser clans. That's because these people—us Clear Sky sect included—favored strong spirit masters for producing more children. However, call it luck, or maybe even another system like with the spirit rings, but fertility among the great clans was also lower the higher one's spirit rank is. Otherwise, I'd have had a brother or sister, and Rongrong, likewise, wouldn't have been an only child.

Childbirth was likewise harder, and I wouldn't be surprised if Rongrong had lost hers. Turns out not even a shit ton of spirit power could save one from heaps upon heaps of blood loss. That, and the lack of good and modern medical facilities. Healing could only do so much after all.

Thus, the tendency of most clans was to marry off a strong spirit master to someone who didn't have a spirit to encourage the birth of more members, but only the best of the best would be engaged to others of equally high bearing and potential. My grandpas and aunt weren't joking around whenever they teased me with Rongrong, and my grandpas approval of Xiao Wu, and probably by extension uncle Hao's liking her, was one that bore the sect's future in mind first and foremost. Though maybe grandpa Shan was just a total sap, but that's up for debate.

Of course, this favorability of being able to cultivate spirit masters had become something only the noble and landed few—the sects—could afford, thus making a lot of the general populace who couldn't do so gravitate towards other means of getting the support. Spirit Hall was one such answer, or at least that's how I figured they came to be. I'll still need to confirm as much from whatever records I could get from the library.

If there were any surviving documents that is.

"Are you really alright, little Jin?" Xiao Wu leaned in closer with those big pink rabbit eyes of doom and slaughter.

We were now walking through the city's streets and everywhere around us the city was alive with all the sights and sounds and smells of a bustling night life. Light stone lamps lit the place up every few meters, and each shop likewise had one of their own. There were restaurants with waitresses calling for customers, and stalls here and there with grilled stuff smoking with aromas both familiar and bizarre, there were also some establishments offering tea and alcohol among other things. For however prim and proper the capital was in the morning, so too did it come alive at night with a different gait.

"Yeah." I pat down the goosebumps riddling my neck. "I ended up with an interesting discovery, but I'm still not sure if it's something I could repeat. It wasn't exactly a gentle thing that happened."

"Another one of your experiments?" Tang San had on a small smile.

"One of the successful ones at least, though the last one before this caused me to have to learn how to cut hair well, and well, you saw the results."

Wu gave her shining approval. "You did good with Rongrong and Zhuqing," she said. "If neither of them already had someone in their hearts than I might've tried to woo them myself."

San laughed.

"Yeah, but Rongrong still won't talk to me like normal after."

Wu giggled. "Perhaps it's not because she's upset?"

I shook my head. "I prefer not to assume anything. When dealing with people who don't regularly participate in underhanded plots and social engineering, it's usually best to stay literal with them."

"You have such a strange outlook on things most of the time." Wu placed a hand on her hip.

"What can I say," I said. "Twelve or so years of life tends to make you jaded, I can't even begin to imagine anything above a hundred or something."

Wu kicked my ass. "Ah such an impertinent junior."

San was smiling despite all that. "It's good at least to say you're more amiable now."

I scratched my cheek. "I did feel like I'd ended up damaging the spirit ring I took, so yeah, I was feeling real down earlier."

Wu put on a sad smile. It was bittersweet, and stung like a needle to the chest. "You should take care of them more."

I steeled my resolve. "I know, and unless I'm sure nothing bad would happen to them, I don't think I can use that thing again." It would be too cruel otherwise… and only unless I absolutely had no other choice left… went unsaid.

And yet knowing the life I had ahead of me, how many times would such a necessity arise? Too many to count, was the closest bet.

San put a hand on his chin. "So what happened exactly?"

I told them the sequence of events that led up to uncle Xiaogang finding me in the treasure system mimicry environment, including all the little monologues and whatnot and even rehashing some darker memories on losing something so dear. The last bit about the spirit beasts I also added, not out of consideration for Wu, but more to reassure myself that I hadn't completely lost sight of the person I was before coming here.

"It's… so compassionate of you to feel that way about spirit beasts," Wu said. "But I can only say it was for the best that you'd already lost that stupid bed of yours. It smelled weird."

I was thirty seven shades of offended at that.

"Don't you look at me like that," she said with a glare. "That bed of yours made every time we camped out so unbearable because it made your entire hut smell."

San looked away. "I'm sorry Jin, but Xiao Wu is right…"

"Et tu, San?!"

The two blinked at my theatrics, but the die had been cast and the betrayal set in stone. I was going to remember this petty thing for as long as I could and call it back a thousand times and one before I let the matter go. That bed held the story of my life and the memories of seven or so years, I wasn't about to let it die just like that.

"What happened to me with the spirit ring," I said. "It covered my body with electricity and allowed me to move faster thanks to the cut to the communication between my brain and body, but I needed to cover my body in my own Domain to help out with perceiving my own movements."

A flash of inspiration shined behind San's eyes. "I see," he said. "Electricity can indeed be used in that way as well…"

He had some medical knowledge then. That wasn't really so surprising.

Wu though had other ideas. "You covered yourself in electricity? But that's neither of your abilities?"

"Yes," I said. "That was nothing like I'd ever been able to do before. And never would I have thought it would happen that way either."

She gave me a puzzled look. "What made you think it was a good idea to use more spirit power than necessary anyway?" She shook her head. "Why would you even try that in the first place?"

I tilted my head at her. "Because I didn't know what would happen if I did?"

San and her stared at me for a good long second.

Wu crossed her arms. "Even if you don't know whether what will happen after was bad?"

San smiled. "Ah, but what if it worked?"

#

We arrived by the Moon Pavilion without a fuss, the hour wasn't so late yet as to be inappropriate for budding young men and women to go on home and be with their families already so the earlier spectacle of the princely little master was replaced by two young masters and their beggar pet. These douchebags for nobles probably thought as much, but then maybe I was giving them too little faith.

"Wasn't that the boy earlier?" One of the young women said.

"What happened to him?" Another young man added.

"Are those two with him his masters then?"

"Maybe he's making them out to be the center of attention?"

Welp, at least I know all was still right with the world. Wu couldn't get enough of the rich wood used in the building's construction, she took every chance she got to touch all of the carved little details while San was the very image of grace.

"I never expected you to start turning to a life of begging," uncle Wei said with a chuckle.

Wu snickered and San's eyes went wide.

"Just you wait," I said. "Once I save up for a silver piece I'll buy your beard from that ugly mug of yours."

Some of the peanut gallery giggled with Wu, but San shot me a withering look.

Uncle Wei shrugged. "You've done better before."

I hung my head. "Yeah, I'm not really used to making poor jokes."

Uncle Wei snorted.

He led the three of us up the stairs again and left the murmurs of gossip and shallowness behind. Not even a stay in the Moon Pavilion could cure these bastards of their chronic bitching, but alas, such was the way of the world. People with too much money and time on their hands without any appreciation for what they already had rarely found much fulfillment with staying in their own lanes.

But if I showed off my strength here, then who knew who else might hear of the irregular child with the three purple spirit rings. I could do so far away from auntie, but not here specifically where I could be connected to her. Not a lot of people had such a configuration after all, and it was only my luck how trustworthy the people I'd met so far had been, though that could change at any time.

Uncle Wei led us through the inner chamber and went through the motions.

Unhurried footsteps soon sounded against the brightly polished floor, and that's when he took his leave—to fetch his and auntie's gear.

"Little Jin?" she said from around a corner. Auntie met my eyes before she took the rest of it in. "You look like trash."

I shrugged. "I blew myself up."

She looked at me with confusion. "Why?"

"I wanted to do something with impact."

Wu shook her head, and San gave auntie a bow. "I had no hand in this," he said. "He says terrible jokes all the time."

Auntie sighed with disgust. "Indeed he does." She clapped her hands once. "You must be little San and this cute little lady here must be little Wu?"

The both of them nodded. "I see little Jin has told you of us?"

"He has," auntie said. "And you may refer to me as your aunt, seeing how your father is my brother."

San smiled the biggest smile I'd seen on him in years. "I see," he said with a stupid grin. "It is an honor to meet father's sister."

Auntie Yuehua gave him an approving nod. "I too am honored to see my boorish brother's antics didn't rub off on you."

"Thank you," San said, "it was helpful having someone while growing up whom I knew I shouldn't emulate."

The three shared a laugh at my expense.

Auntie Yuehua straightened up and brought forth all her regal manner to bear. "And now I suppose it wouldn't be unbecoming of this auntie to ask for a hug from her long lost nephew?"

San didn't hesitate to close the distance between them. It was refreshing to see the child—not really—who once hated the Clear Sky sect with a righteous reason now act more amiable to our family. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope yet for our enmity with Spirit Hall. Oh, and the clans we left behind too… okay, maybe I was jumping ahead too far with all that.

This world had shit values.

Auntie gave San a tight hug, and let him go gingerly as a light flush painted her cheeks. She cleared her throat and turned to Wu. "And little Wu," she said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you as well, I can see my other nephew has a good eye, though I hope he has been treating you well?"

Xiao Wu nodded with a fervor. "Ge treats me the best."

"To the point of neglecting giving me attention, I might add."

Wu stuck her tongue out at me.

"Ah, so adorable," auntie said. "I always did wish to have a daughter."

"Boys can be rather dirty," Wu said with a sly smile.

"Oh," auntie pursed her lips. "I'm unmarried and have no children."

"Ah." Xiao Wu slowly turned her head to me. Help me, she mouthed.

It was the sweet sweet flavor of awkwardness.

"It's no matter." Auntie waved a hand and gave me a chiding look. "It just so happened that no man could ever meet my standards." She smiled at Wu. "And as much as I would dote on my nephew, and this"—she gestured in my general direction—"mess, I would sooner tell you to never settle for any less than you deserve."

Xiao Wu's eyes reflected nothing else but auntie. She tugged at San's sleeve. "Ge, please make sure I grow up to be like her."

Auntie raised a brow. "But not childless, perhaps?"

Wu lit up in bright pink. "Oh, ah, we're still much too young for that."

San looked away but didn't express his displeasure.

Auntie giddied up. "Are they always this precious?"

"Quite often, actually." These two were so damn sweet to each other it was rarer to see them even remotely upset with the other or even apart. Though San did have his moments of lonesomeness when he did his forging of Hidden Weapons, then again, Wu would still look after him so kinda not really?

"At least I won't have any problems seeing grandchildren with little San," she said. Auntie raised a brow at me. "It doesn't have to be Rongrong, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "I never said it'd be her, and neither am I thinking about that so early."

Auntie clicked her tongue. "You'll reach twenty in no time and be a man soon enough, you should start looking for a wife early who doesn't mind that overbearing haughtiness of yours."

"What? I am not even remotely haughty." I crossed my arms. "And I'm barely twelve! Twelve, auntie!"

That's when uncle Wei came back with enough robes for us four.

"Before I forget." She looked me up from head to toe. "What did I tell you about showing up here in such drab and worn clothes?"

"Not again," Wu said.

"Just let him have this," San followed up.

I glared at them before I gave auntie the full rundown of what happened to me including the part where I'd lost my most precious bed. Ah, and the thing about the exploding spirit ring too. Even putting it to words for a third time didn't alleviate the anguish of losing that part of me I'd had for so long. It was a harrowing journey for me to trudge through once more, but I had to power on through to honor the memories as well as to get auntie up to speed.

Then, in her calmest and most modulated voice said, "We have a hundred workers making those things you call mattresses every day, and you tell me you've had the same"—she glared at me— "one all these years?"

I pouted at her. "Shouldn't you be more worried about the spirit rings?"

Then horror registered on her face as her cheeks suddenly went pale. "I-is that why you and Rongrong hadn't progressed much?"

#

We were out of the Moon Pavilion in no time and our group took the same route as this morning, and after a few minutes of stealthy walking, avoiding any too crowded streets, and making sure our hoods were up all the time we eventually reached the little hut just behind the Blue Tyrant Academy and went through the gates. Another minute later and we then came face to face with grandpas Shan and Lin.

I was the first one they saw.

"Aren't you a little early for tomorrow?" grandpa Lin said with a sigh.

"Oh," grandpa Shan said, "San and Wu are here as well."

"I can see that," grandpa Lin added. "Something important happened that this couldn't wait?"

Auntie nodded. "Little Jin says he blew himself up."

Grandpa Lin stared at me long and hard. "What did you do?"

Grandpa Shan inspected me closer. "And why are covered in dirt here and there?"

"That would be all that's left of my bed."

"Oh," grandpa Lin said, "I don't understand how, but good."

"But I almost destroyed my spirit ring!"

Grandpa Shan choked on air. "What's this about destroying spirit rings?"

And so began the, hopefully, last retelling of the tale of my bed—

"Little Jin," auntie said, "please skip the part about your bed, I don't want to have to sit through a minute of that any longer than I already had to."

"We've heard it twice already," Xiao Wu added.

San shook his head. "And it was just as bad as the first time."

I took my seat by the cushions arrayed around the small but regal living area. "Spoil my fun."

"Just get on with the story," grandpa Lin said.

So I told them about the experiments on charging up my rings or making my skin glow from all the spirit power I could cram into them, even showed off how quickly I could grow my Hammer's size now to double it's normal form in as little as two seconds. I even included the part where I ended up messing with Rongrong and Zhuqing's hair plus the hair cut thing as backstory for the charging part, then came the nastier part where I was completely glowing then ended up throwing out all my stuff thanks to being so saturated with spirit power and then making everything go boom when I got annoyed, eventually culminating with said spirit ring blowing up and getting covered in electricity.

"Wait." Grandpa Shan held up a hand. "That doesn't sound like the Great Sumeru Hammer method."

"What's this about the summer hammer?"

Grandpa Lin glared at me. "The Great Sumeru Hammer is our clan's most prized possession. It is the same power that allowed our spirit to bear the name of Clear Sky, and you better give it the same reverence expected of everyone that bears the name of Tang."

"This is related to that inheritance ceremony, isn't it?"

Grandpa Lin gave a firm affirmative. "Little San, your father, this generation's Clear Sky douluo, had inherited the Great Sumeru Hammer method of our family which allows one to bring to bear power approaching the gods."

Grandpa Shan's eyes reflected a time long before ours. "Our dear uncle, your great grandfather, Tang Chen dared to even call it a divine ability. Although we do not know where he is right now, we believe he is still somewhere out there pursuing his goal of reaching divinity."

Tang San steeled his gaze. "But Spirit Hall likewise has their own method able to match this technique?"

I raised my hand. "Wait, did you just say great grandfather was trying to become a god?"

Uncle Lin glowed with pride. "Indeed."

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Gods are real?"

"There have been legends." Grandpa Shan looked aside. "And it was only thanks to a map that uncle Chen had come across before that he'd ended up pursuing his lifelong goal."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Gods. Maps. Divine Abilities. How come I was only finding out about this now. "And we still have this map?"

Grandpa Lin let out a rush of breath. "That, unfortunately, has been lost with the times."

Grandpa Shan ran his fingers through his greying hair. "We do not know where the map or if any of its copies still exist with the sect, and it stands to reason we can't just ask any others about it, yes?"

San's eyes shone. "So you mean to say our Clear Sky Hammer has the potential to pursue divinity?"

"But where exactly does divinity lie?" Wu scooched forward intently with doe-eyed wonder.

Everyone here except for San knew Wu was a spirit beast turned human, though I couldn't remember if we'd already told auntie about that. Still, this talk of gods and divinity just flew above my head, it was a lot to take in for one evening after all. We had more immediate concerns like how to avoid the genocide Spirit Hall—supposedly—wanted to enact upon us Tangs.

"Uncle Chen said it was beyond rank one hundred," grandpa Lin said. "And if he had indeed reached this mythical rank, then surely we would be the ones to know first."

"And still we haven't to this day?"

The two hung their heads.

I wanted to roll my eyes. Of course, it stood to reason that us being suppressed during the mishap with uncle Hao was related to this hot mess of a situation. "And let me guess, Spirit Hall likewise has their own great figure who was trying to become a god?"

"Qian Daoliu," auntie said with poison. "That accursed name."

Welp, that sure as hell sounded like a final boss fight. "And he's the one behind the state of our sect now?"

"Indeed," grandpa Lin said, "as the one who stands at the pinnacle of Spirit Hall, the rank ninety-nine super douluo, Angel Douluo, is the true power behind all their movements."

That was a shitty title if I didn't know any better, but fine, such was the name of someone who could strike fear into the hearts of others.

"Hao killed Qian Daoliu's son and eventually started this grudge," grandpa Shan said, "but the enmity of Spirit Hall for all the non-subordinate sects was already there anyway. They just needed enough of a push to rally enough to their ideals."

"But does Spirit Hall also have a technique like our Great Sumeru Hammer?"

"None," grandpa Shan said, "but they have even more Titled Douluos than us."

"A very fair point," I said.


	42. Chapter 42

"Okay." I slapped my thigh. "All this talk of godhood and divinity is really starting to throw me out for a loop."

All five of them looked at me liked I'd just swallowed a whole chicken, and the dim light stones in the room made their expressions look ghastly.

Grandpa Lin wrinkled his nose. "Why would you toss out a ring in the first place?"

I waved a hand in front of me. "Not important." I put my hands together and splayed my fingers out. "Look, we're starting to talk about things we don't even have the power to consider right now." I took a deep breath. "San and I are so far away from the ninety-ninth rank that this doesn't seem all that important to discuss at the moment."

Grandpa Shan frowned. "To know as much on your enemy should be your first concern, little Jin."

"Eventually," I said. "But knowing who Qian Daoliu is now would only serve as some far off goal too hard to reach, and to compare myself right who is just at the cusp of the fortieth rank versus someone at just a step before godhood—and this is a whole big mess to talk about later on, believe me—would only serve to down my and San's spirits."

I mean who the hell even expected gods to be involved in all this crap anyway. And what sort of shit had to go down for something that bad to happen that bastards that should already be above mortal matters would get involved?! And why the hell were there these sorts of people in the first place anyway? If these gods, as they said, were indeed part of the cultivation system themselves… then who the hell came up with this broken ass system in the first place?

And obviously Spirit Beasts adhered to a different set of rules for cultivation, but for them to have the possibility to evolve into a person clearly showed favor to people. And yet spirit beasts were vastly stronger than people in general, so what the hell? This was shit balancing through and through!

"This is part of the reason we didn't wish to tell you so early." Grandpa dragged his hand down from his forehead to his chin.

And such a matter made sense, to be honest. To suddenly find out you were being groomed to fight a god wasn't a very pleasant revelation, and neither did it do any good for the butterflies that just decided to dick around in my guts.

"But you surprised us too much with what you did." Grandpa Shan widened his eyes as he said so. "The appearance of the Great Sumeru Hammer is just that important. And if what you did earlier wasn't the clan's proudest method, then what was it then?"

San brought his hand up to his chin. "Little Jin, could you maybe show us again what you did?"

"I think so?" I waved my hand about parallel to the ground. "But what I'm more concerned with is whether I was damaging my spirit rings or not." Not only was there a possibility of my cultivation dropping down due to the decrease in rings, but it could also spell some sort of irreparable damage that would forever plague my spirits or me.

"If the first use didn't kill you," grandpa Lin said, "then you can rest assured what you did won't do so the second time."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, no, that's not how probabilities work."

"But didn't you say your cultivation rose by a rank after you did so?" San said. "I am curious myself how you were able to achieve so, a rank is nothing to scoff at our age and cultivation." He put on a lopsided smile and scratched his cheek, and I swear I heard Wu's heart drop. "I'm starting to feel my cultivation slow down myself."

I messaged my temples. "You guys are asking me to risk my life and cultivation for this."

Wu shook her head. "You've been risking your life and cultivation long before this happened, little Jin."

I facepalmed. "You're not wrong." I put a finger up. "But that's a different matter since those were under controlled conditions."

"And this is no different." Wu shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. Well, it was still worth a shot after all to see if I could replicate what I did. I started stockpiling spirit power into my whole body. "Fine. But this could get really loud."

"We can go outside to the forest," grandpa Lin said. "The cover of trees ought to obscure us from view and any sounds you make can easily be blamed on someone else training in the dead of night."

"It helps that that Blue Tyrant Academy is expanding their land," grandpa Shan added.

We all went out of our little fort in the woods and didn't bother much with sticking to any path. Auntie, like uncle Xiaogang, was finally able to cultivate her spirit after making use of my cultivation method and at least now had a spirit ring to her name compared to before so everyone in our group didn't meet too much trouble with the road not taken—since there was none to begind with.

Her spirit, the Crystal-Clear Bell, was similar to my Amber Crown in that it too possessed an innate Domain, but where before it was something she could only use to diffuse tense situations with, now it was more akin to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in that it could also boost attributes plus a few other things. Her first ring, after so many years of being stuck at the ninth rank, now allowed her to give inspiration to others on top of granting them increased spirit force and vitality.

Compared to Rongrong's purely battle oriented buffs, auntie's was more of a utility that had no set intention. However, it did help a lot with growing our financial empire in the background.

We kept going until we reached a clearing. It was a nice and quiet spot filled with knee height grass which San cleaned up with a quick sweep of his Swords, and by the time we reached the place, I was already glowing and more than enough to illuminate our way.

Grandpa Shan scratched his chin. "Don't you usually need your Crown to light up?"

Grandpa Lin huffed. "In all our long lives, this too is the first we'd seen of this."

"How… are you doing this?" Auntie poked me with a finger.

I didn't swat her touch away. "Long story short, I'm concentrating spirit power within my body."

"Jin showed us this a few days ago," Wu said. She raised her fist and it too slowly started glowing, although not to the same degree as the light I was giving out.

San gave his approval. "Little Jin, you've really come a long way from just a few days ago."

I shrugged. "If you count feeling as if you're immersed in the fires of hell, sure."

"Fire?" San tilted his head. "You mean to say the burning feeling you mentioned before is still there?"

I nodded. "Even now I feel like every inch of me is on fire." I examined my glowing hand, and if the light really was coming from within then I supposed I would've seen my blood vessels or something, or even my bones. But as it was, it was a uniform glow from my skin. So, maybe it was just my skin glowing?

San frowned and stepped up to me with his hands out. His dignified spirit energy permeated into my body in places, but where before it could seep in without issue, now there was some resistance. "Interesting," he said.

"Is he doing something bad?" Grandpa Shan stepped up to me and extended a hand, also sending out spirit power into me.

My current state likewise prevented too much from entering, and if the other times I felt it as a sort of large and moving presence, now it was like holding onto a sandwich tightly packed in plastic. I expected it to be less intrusive, but now there was a sort of springy kind of resistance.

"My spirit energy is not entering as I expect," grandpa Shan said. "Is it some sort of barrier?"

San had his hand to his chin. "I know of Big Dipper Qi, but this is not how it manifests…"

That was too specific of a term to ignore. "And this Big Dipper Qi is supposed to be used like a shield of sorts?"

"It is," he said. "But it does not produce a glow like you are doing. And before when it was just your hand, it didn't behave as it did now." He hummed. "What changed since then?"

"Maybe it's because I'm glowing everywhere?"

Grandpa Lin furrowed his brows. "Everywhere?"

I met his eyes and slowly said, "Everywhere."

It took Wu a second to process. "So… even down there?"

I gave her a nod.

She cringed.

"Although I'm sure there will be some who find that enticing," auntie said while shaking her head.

"The world is truly vast," grandpa Shan added.

Turns out fetishes were one of the universal hallmarks of human culture. "Besides that wonderful aside which no one needed to have to think of for any reason other than to confirm a curiosity that could've been left alone, are we doing this or what?"

I summoned my Crown and raised my hand high. Then with a great push, shoved everything of me and my entire glowing manifestation into my fist.

It lit up with the fury of the sun—well, not really, but bright enough to blind even me in this darkness—and the constant burn turned into a white hot pulse as I held the mass of power and light in my hand.

Earlier I pushed all that spirit power into my second ring directly, I wonder then what would happen if I pushed it all into a different ring. A different effect, most likely, though hopefully minus the explosion? Assuming of course it even worked.

They all stepped back.

"Go ahead," grandpa Lin said.

San, Wu, and auntie all got behind the two Titled Douluos.

Then from my fist to my first ring, I bridged the gap between my body and spirit ring and forced all that power through.

"That's not how the Great Sumeru Hammer is performed," grandpa Shan said.

My purple ring started growing larger and whiter by the moment in front of me as I awaited my strength from leaving, just like before. A moment passed and my knees buckled, but this time I was prepared and caught myself from the expenditure, then from Interface, my spirit power dropped to sixty percent compared to the forty with my second ring.

Wu shook her head, eyes wide and unblinking. "To push so much spirit power into an ability like that…"

"I never thought it possible myself," auntie added.

My now white ring cracked at the seams and burst forth with brilliant golden light—

—but the explosion never came. "Wait, what?"

I frowned, but then noticed the glowing blue outline on Devour's icon and the slowly trickling timer denoting the mode's remaining duration.

"Little Jin?" Grandpa Shan walked over to me with a puzzled look. "Didn't you say you were covered in lightning before?"

"About that." I ducked into my shoulders. "I already did it earlier with my second ring, so I figured to use it with another in the meantime?"

He rolled his eyes. "Weren't you the one complaining earlier about this possibly endangering your cultivation?"

I looked to the side. "Well, I figured abusing a spirit ring twice in one day would be bad?"

"Well?" Grandpa Lin approached with the others. "Your spirit ring exploded, but what happened?"

"At least we know it comes back," Wu added.

"I used my first ring," I said, "the one with Devour and the Wasp Bullet?" I summoned my Hammer and tried to activate my first ability, and like I expected before, my spirit ring's use was locked into the mode: which meant there was an effect right now I wasn't aware of currently occurring.

"Quick, tell me if there's anything strange about me?"

Wu sighed. "If you really insist, there's the fact you hadn't changed your bedding in years—"

"No, not like that!" I gestured to my entire person. "I meant with my body, like was I glowing or something?"

They all examined me and I turned in place to show off any possible tells of what was happening. I raised my hands, showed a bit more skin, even flipped my hair back and forth a few times just for kicks.

Auntie was the one to break the news. "Sorry, little Jin, but we didn't see much of anything."

The blue outline was still counting down, there was something we were missing.

San put a hand on my shoulder. "Worry not—"

He hopped away and shook his hand about, but a smile played on his lips. "You were extremely hot to the touch."

"Why thank you, cousin, but I don't think incest is a widely accepted thing and neither do I—"

Wu groaned and moved to kick me but San stopped her.

"I too want to hit him at times," San said, "but now is not one of them."

"Little San, you mentioned Jin was burning somehow?" Grandpa Shan laid a hand on my head.

And in came a surge of spirit power from where his hand touched. It was vast. So vast that I didn't know where best to put it or risk discovering the possibilities of making myself glow with another person's spirit power, and ended up cycling it through my chakras and into my Crown just like I did when I cultivated while moving by making use of my spirit power pool.

"Impressive," grandpa Shan said. "Little Jin is taking a voracious amount of spirit power from me, the likes I'd never felt from him before."

My cultivation bar had jumped when I activated it before on my second ring which brought me over the thirty-ninth rank, while this next activation brought me to the halfway point towards the fortieth, and even now it was inching closer and closer to the fortieth rank at such an amazing pace. This was a lot like a concentrated Devour activated on skin contact instead of via my Domain, so if it was anything to go by as a trend, then it meant I was applying to my body the effects of my Crown's abilities?

Which would probably mean getting covered in acid with my third ring… was it a good idea? Most likely not. Would it help my cultivation though? Definitely.

Grandpa Lin raised a brow but said nothing, choosing instead to lay a hand on my back—and another flow of surging power entered me. Without any second thoughts, I put all that spirit power into my cultivation, greedily sucking up everything I could from my grandpas while diverting portions of it to replenish my consumed spirit power pool. Spirit power was, after all, something the two of them could spare in droves where I'd dry up in a matter of seconds. I couldn't sense how much they had in them, but it was leagues upon leagues upon leagues greater than what anything I could ever output right now.

"You haven't taken this much spirit power from me this fast since I woke up your spirit," grandpa Lin said with a smile. "However, you mustn't make use of this haphazardly." He removed his hand from me and the torrential downpour lessened into a great flood. "It seems this ability you discovered compresses the effects of your domain."

"Indeed," grandpa Shan added, "it's not enough to make us old fools suffer, but anyone at around the same cultivation rank as you would find it difficult to resist this."

"Always a surprise," San said while shaking his head. "You always did learn rather fast."

"It's a perk of my Crown," I said. "Helps me think."

Grandpa Lin gave grandpa Shan a look and he too removed his hand. I wasn't gonna say no to already being two thirds of the way to rank forty, but I wasn't gonna push my luck either. It took time to properly assimilate spirit energy, and that was doubly true for spirit power taken instead of earned. Not that I cared much for however it was obtained, spirit power was still spirit power at the end of the day.

But if this improved my cultivation in the Treasure System Mimicry Environment…

"And yet it doesn't help your personality," Wu added with a sigh.

Auntie gave her a knowing nod. "I can't imagine what you go through spending so much time with him, little Wu."

The blue countdown had already gone through a third of the way. And judging from the time it took, this mode was maybe around eight or so minutes total compared to the ten of my second one.

"Grandpas, I also want to see about something. "I expanded my Domain to them. "Could you feel any drain from there?"

The two shook their heads. "No little Jin," grandpa Shan said.

So the mode didn't pass off the effects into my Domain.

I activated Shock.

"This is a touch more unpleasant now compared to before," grandpa Lin said. Electricity crackled within my light, but none of the sparks touched a single hair on their bodies. "I don't do well with a singed beard, little Jin, I hope you don't mind us grandpas resisting properly this time around."

I deactivated my ability. "So using this only prevents my use of the ring for anything else, but I could still use the others."

"How were you even able to do this?" Wu tilted her head, then summoned her spirit herself. Her one purple ring glowed and she shifted positions three meters away from where she stood. "I tried to put spirit power into my ring as well, but the moment I did then my teleportation activated."

The monster of a rabbit complained about getting nerfed from turning human. Which, really didn't make a lot of sense.

San summoned his spirit too, and one of his purple rings glowed. A moment later a White Sword grew out of the grass he'd released on his hand. "It seems I find it difficult myself."

I looked over at my grandpas.

"No little Jin, us Titled Douluos accidentally triggering our abilities here would only spell trouble for us all," grandpa Lin said.

"That's fair," I said.

Auntie shrugged and summoned a teensy little glass-like bell, her one ring floating behind her. "Might as well," she said.

Silver light poured out from her and when it touched me I felt my spirit power spike upwards together with my spirits. It was refreshing, to bathe in her light before, but now with her added ability, it was invigorating as well.

"I couldn't make it work the same way you did, little Jin," she said.

I raised a finger. "I think the first step to doing this is to be aware that spirit power must first enter the spirit ring before it can make use of our spirit power."

"Isn't that what we normally do anyway?" Auntie rested a palm against her cheek.

"Not exactly," I said.

"Little Jin said it was a series of events instead of a singular activation," San added. "And I believe this is a vastly different way of thinking compared to how we use abilities in the first place."

"Might be faster to show you," I said. The blue counter for this absorbing mode was still going strong—but I didn't notice a flow of energy inwards from the universe like with normal cultivation, maybe because I wasn't focusing on it? Perhaps.

I willed my second ring in front of me. "Right now, I'm not using my Domain. So if I put spirit power into my second ability…" The purple ring lit up. "Then the power has nowhere to go."

"Have you tried using this with your Hammer?" San asked. "It might be better to try it from there."

I was about to get to that some other time, but today was as good as any. "Sure, but please stand back again since I'll be using the Thunder Heart Strike."

I summoned my Hammer, and so far, there were no strange interactions between the current state of my first ring and this one. Spirit power already saturated my second ring, but not to the same point where I made it explode electricity like what happened with Zhuqing and Rongrong.

My Hammer appeared, but it did not get charged with electricity like a normal activation.

"How?" Wu was looking at my glowing purple ring.

"It's clear to me, I guess, that things cannot happen unless they are one after the other." There are after all some quantum states where things happened at the same time due to some underlying physics stuff outside of classical mechanics, but I wasn't going down that rabbit hole. "Cause and effect."

San hummed. "You are saying this is a form of karma?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

He pursed his lips. "You said that things happen because of previous things. So, karma. The effect of one's previous actions on their current one, yes?"

I scratched my head. That just went a way deeper level than I initially wanted it to but, "Yeah, sure. Karma."

I then touched my Hammer's face to the ground. And still nothing happened. And only then did I release my hold on my spirit ring as electricity surged outwards and the ground exploded with overturned earth and singed grass.

"I try to practice control not just over how I can use my abilities, but also in how my abilities work."

"So you are able to separate activating your abilities from using them…" Grandpa Lin stroked his beard. "I can at least see the merit of it somewhat."

"Actually," I said, "there was one more use of spirit rings I sort of discovered?"

"Oh," grandpa Shan said. "Our little genius had more?"

"Didn't I already mention it though?"

San crossed his arms. "I believe this is the one related to what happened with Rongrong?"

Auntie shook her head and Wu sighed.

"It is," I said. "I was able to take this charging step and improve upon it to the point of increasing the power of my abilities."

They all nodded.

"And I'm able to do so by giving my spirit ring more spirit power than it needs to activate my ability."

Auntie paused for a bit and blinked. "And how is this different from how you exploding your spirit ring earlier?"

"For one it doesn't explode the spirit ring."

"Ah," she said. "Please then."

Curious to find out that charging beforehand worked with my Hammer, the next logical step was to overcharge my ring and try it. The first step was to charge up my ring, and the same unmistakable glow of purple lit up the clearing.

Next came the supercharging part.

I pushed in more and more spirit power, and the main difference with the activation of that mode style of using my spirit ability was it made use of a whole lot more spirit power than an ability did. My ring started from a brilliant purple glow to a now blinding pink light.

When I couldn't push any more in is when I stopped and raised my Hammer high. "I don't know what'll happen after this."

The three got behind our grandpas.

"Ready when you are," grandpa Shan said.

"And at least swing it away from us over here," grandpa Lin added.

"Ah, right." I faced my back to the five of them.

After unlocking the seals on my spirit rings, the consumption of the abilities had increased in efficiency but not in terms of cost. Activating them still cost an arm and a leg, but at least now I was getting a whole lot more bang for my buck—as to how much bang though was a question up in the air. "Here goes nothing!"

I unleashed the supercharge the moment my Hammer hit the ground.

As a mass of crackling lightning roared out like a wave in front of me and burned and upturned trees where they passed with the force of the explosion.

It kept going for a few meters before dying out and exploding some more.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I didn't expect that!"

Then a fist came out of nowhere and hit me in the noggin, driving me into the ground. "What sort of idiot makes a racket in the dead of night and blows up an old lady's house, huh?!"

I looked up and the solid steel hit had come from a woman covered in fire and sporting a very sour expression. She grabbed me by the lapels of my robe and lifted me off the ground and shook my ass silly. "What the fuck, you're just a shitty kid?!"

My grandpas brought out their Hammers—but the lady didn't even flinch, she gave them a stare that would've turned milk into two parts yogurt and one part cheese.

That's when auntie poked her head out and gasped. "Oh my," she said, "I didn't know you lived close by miss Erlong!"


	43. Chapter 43

"Lady Yuehua?" The person called Erlong said. She didn't drop me though so my feet just dangled in the air. It was emancipating, but it wasn't wholly unpleasant. The fires covering her person entered me as a fierce and bright red, and since I still had on my Crown, I got an up close and personal examination of the person holding me up.

Erlong had her black hair done up in a high ponytail. She wore a soft green tunic that showed off the softness of her curves and subtle lines, and her cheeks were full and her nose sharp. The lady had no wrinkles, and her lips were lusciously filled among other things. That stern look and those deep black eyes just made me want to hear her say my name with a scowl. Her arms were slender and her fingertips a little rough, but the power behind them hinted she was likely a beast spirit master.

She was real damn pretty for someone who called herself old too. Not that she looked a day over twenty.

More and more of her spirit power was entering me, and the view coupled with the boost to my cultivation was rather welcome.

We were in the middle of the forest at night surrounded by destroyed lumber and burning wood and in a Mexican stand-off to boot with her hanging onto me and my grandpas ready to turn her into paste at any given moment. San and Wu were behind them, and auntie was poking her head out from between the Titled Douluo.

I was at her mercy, and in some corner of my mind I should've been more afraid, but given the discussions between me and auntie, the Liu Erlong she knew didn't seem to bear any hostilities with our sect specifically. That, and I also liked what she was doing with her academy, so I was rather in favor—not counting her good looks—of an amiable relationship with her in the future. Not that kind of relationship, but I wasn't closing that door off just yet.

Grandpa Shan shifted his grip on his spirit. "Please put the idiot down."

Grandpa Lin followed suit as his spirit power started to fill the air and his Hammer took on a faint blue glow.

Erlong had a presence that dared confront two Titled Douluos without batting an eyelash, but even she had to defer to absolute power. She was shaking just the tiniest fraction, and her pupils twitched every now and then, it was all so clear to the me wearing my Crown.

And yet despite that she still stared grandpa Shan down. "He destroyed my house, am I not right with seeking reparation, elder of the Clear Sky Sect?"

I had such a good impression of this person that I preferred to believe she was on our side ignoring the immediate danger I was technically in. This was probably a good lesson to take note of in the future.

"Uh pardon me," I said.

All eyes went to me.

Erlong raised a brow at the flames from her body licking against mine and supposedly burning me, then the inflow of spirit power—and the fire—stopped a moment later.

Grandpa Shan likewise retracted a little of his own aura.

"Yes?" Erlong said.

I raised my hands to somewhat placate her. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot here."

Erlong crinkled her adorable nose at me. "What's wrong with your foot?"

I facepalmed.

The pretty old lady looked at the group. "Why did he hit himself?"

Auntie shook her head and groaned. "I believe he meant to say this was all just a misunderstanding." The most level headed in our group nodded to the two old monsters. "Please, grandpas, Erlong means no harm to the idiot."

Erlong frowned. "If this child is so important then why do you call him that?"

"We call him what he is," auntie said.

"You wound me," I said.

Then Erlong raised me higher so we were face to face. "Were they hurting you?"

I couldn't help a smile, I craned my neck over to auntie. "I really like her." I looked back at the person still holding me up like a kitten—who was now just so so confused. It was irresistable. "You're a good person."

Erlong held me up with one hand and scratched her head with the other. "It is way too late into the night for this…"

Auntie walked up to us and looked me over for any injuries. Satisfied, she turned to Erlong and said, "He says a lot of weird things from time to time."

Erlong dropped my sorry ass and sighed. She looked at me and turned to the smoke a ways off into the distance, and now that the trees were gone, I could indeed see now where a small hut might've been. The supporting beam that was now in splinters was the biggest clue, since everything else was already destroyed.

Auntie bowed to her. "We apologize for what he did."

Erlong clenched her jaw. "He blew up my house."

"It's the first I've seen him do it," auntie said, "but I wouldn't count it as the last. We will be sure to rebuild it for you first thing in the morning."

The fire lady shook her head. "That's not what's important," she said, "I had a memento there… of my husband."

Something sank to the pits of my stomach.

Auntie and the rest looked just as shocked.

Strength and prowess faded over time, and money was only good for as long as one still had needs, but memories, those were the things that truly counted. What few recollections I had of the life I left behind were more precious to me than anything I could ever buy in this life.

"I am deeply sorry for my mistake," I said. "If there's some way I can make it up to you… please, I'll do so if it's within my capabilities."

Erlong gave a weak laugh. "The idiot dares to talk big?" She shook her head. "Let it be, perhaps this was for the best. That wedding dress was only giving me no end of grief."

Oh. Oh my. "I'm sorry for your loss."

She gave me a pat on the head. "Ah, forgive me if I gave that impression. He's not dead, although he might as well be after what had happened between us."

There was a story behind that, and a sleazy bastard from this old romcom series back home might've seen so as a legendary chance, but I wasn't a horrible person. At least not horrible in that manner.

San and Wu relaxed enough to leave the shadows of my grandpas who had already retracted their spirits while she was giving me the rundown with her ex. Grandpa Shan walked over to me and knocked me on the head before giving me a quick hug, and grandpa Lin also knocked me on the head, but without the hug.

Erlong barked at the sky, loud enough to make my ears ring a little, then she stretched her arms and twisted in place. She only stopped after I heard a crack from her spine.

I cringed.

She let out another sigh and said, "This has got to be the weirdest night so far for this year."

"We live with him." Wu jerked at me with her thumb.

Erlong shook her head. "A pity then, and what proper person would just randomly call forth lightning in random at night in the forest?"

I had to bite back a smile. "Uh, someone training?"

Grandpa Shan groaned.

"We understand he can be infuriating at times," auntie said.

San cleared his throat.

"Most of the time," auntie corrected. "But deep down Jin is a…" She crossed her arms. "Hmm… I… wait, no, but he's…"

I gestured at auntie to cut it out. "Why do you have to make it sound weird?"

"It's not easy to compliment you, little Jin," San said.

Erlong crouched down to put me at eye level. "I'm curious though, how come it burned when I hit you, and my flames died down? You had your spirit out but you weren't making use of any abilities at the time."

Erlong was cute, and I sort of instinctively trusted that pretty face of her subconsciously, but even I wasn't that stupid. "I'm just that hot?"

Erlong gave me a quizzical look. "But you don't have a fever."

Fuck! Fuck all these goddamn metaphors not translating right!

Grandpa Lin gave me a good hit.

Auntie walked up to Erlong and faced our group.

"Everyone, " she said. "It was an unexpected first meeting, but this here is miss Liu Erlong, the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy."

It was already late like Erlong had said so the replies weren't as enthusiastic, granted the stand-off probably contributed to that.

"She is aware of our plight with Spirit Hall, and she is likewise sympathetic to our cause. Miss Erlong, you've also just now met two of our elders, Tang Shan and Tang Lin." Auntie gestured to them respectively. "And these three children are also with us, little Wu and little San," she gestured at the two, then jerked her chin at me. "And you've already met the little shit, I mean little Jin."

It would've been strange had this been back home, but to be making formal introductions after a tense face off like that just a minute ago and all buddy buddy now, this world was just that crazy.

I put on my best smile. "At least we're all friends now, right?"

Erlong shrugged. "I guess."

#

We agreed to discuss further matters the following day. Auntie insisted that Erlong stayed with her in the Moon Pavilion until things were sorted out about her cabin, which I was going to pay for, later on, but Erlong said she'd stay by the faculty dormitories of her academy instead.

I wanted to comment that she had no reason to be toughing it out in the woods when she had perfectly good housing somewhere closer to civilization, but I was a better person than to say that after destroying said house.

It just wouldn't do as a favor, even if it totally was.

Ah, and screw that ex-husband of hers too. Or not ex. I didn't know how marriage laws worked here.

As for the matter of how will her house be rebuilt, Erlong mentioned she knew a good family of architects and masons so she'd arrange a quick chat with them sometime including me and auntie to finalize the reconstruction. It was a genial conversation all in all, minus the fact of how we got there in the first place.

Erlong said her good nights and went back to wherever that dorm was for her, while our group went back to our little hideout.

On our way back through the forest, grandpa Lin said, "Yuehua, that Liu Erlong is what rank?"

"I believe she is nearing the eightieth rank bottleneck, so she'll likely need a spirit ring sometime soon." Auntie nodded. "You wish to do her a favor?"

The old man stroked his beard. "It's not every day we meet a strong spirit master who has no love for spirit hall, but is she connected to any of the great clans?"

"There were rumors of her being part of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan," she said.

Which really, no one could have noticed that with her academy's name. "But her element was fire," I said, "so she's likely a holder of a variant spirit."

It was a hit and miss with variants, some did amazing, like mine and hers, and some not so much, like auntie or uncle Xiaogang. Then again, some just needed a different way of doing things, so maybe there really was some truth to what uncle said, that there were no trash spirits. The second part after that wasn't really all that great since if the spirit master didn't know of any other method, then it wasn't exactly their fault. Not to some extent at least.

"I'll see around as well," auntie added. "If remember correctly, she had some ties to a famous group of spirit masters before, something about a triangle…"

Grandpa Lin gave his approval. "Good, let's see if we can bring her into the fold if those old dragons don't have their talons in her yet."

"Little Jin," grandpa Shan said, "we were interrupted earlier, but how are you feeling after exploding your rings?"

"I'm curious about that as well," Wu said.

The timer for Devour's icon had already run out earlier, and now it was glowing a faint green as another timer of sorts this time filled upwards. The progress was too slow for me to give a proper estimate right now, but it was easily more than an hour judging by its current pace like Shock took.

I cycled spirit power through my body to check for any changes, and besides the boost it gave to my cultivation, there wasn't much of anything else. "It doesn't really feel like anything, besides the effect of my electricity on my body, there was nothing. No feeling like I was stronger or in pain, at most there was that strange vibrating feel but that was most likely from the electricity."

"I see," grandpa Shan said, "and have you tried doing this ring explosion thing with your Hammer yet?"

I tilted my head at him. "Huh, now that you mention it. Not yet. I haven't tried that ring explosion yet with my Hammer."

"Good," grandpa Shan said. "Don't."

"Eh?" San, Wu, and I said together.

"If this method you did truly was the Great Sumeru Hammer, then trying it with your Hammer could very easily cripple you in case you fail."

There it was again, that threat of crippling oneself. Bah.

Grandpa Shan continued, "The Great Sumeru Hammer is no joke, and using it when you aren't ready yet would easily kill you from the backlash. It transforms spirit power into the purest strength, and with your body as it is right now, it could easily explode from the tyrannical force liberated. There is a reason this method is only passed on to the Clear Sky Douluo of every generation, and that is because only at the titled douluo realm do you have any chance of surviving."

Well, shit. "It would be good then if we could ask someone to confirm if what I was doing was indeed the Great Sumeru Hammer."

Grandpa Shan shook his head. "No one knows where Hao is, unfortunately."

San looked down and Wu gave him a pat on the back.

I couldn't tell if what grandpa said was a lie, but they didn't have much reason to hide this from me. But considering the matter with Qian Daoliu, was it worth pursuing this anymore than I already had then? It was a god level technique after all, so I was of the opinion that it was—given I was apparently in line to duke it out with the closest thing to a deity here. Eventually. Hopefully not even anytime close to soon or within the next few years.

And didn't we have so many Titled Douluo already? So even then we were still outgunned? Damn. It was apparently that bad.

Which meant it was high time we stopped reacting to things as they came. "Is there anything else we should be doing in the meantime?"

All of them looked at me.

"You three should be getting stronger," grandpa Lin said. "It is important that you all have the strength once the appointed time with Spirit Hall comes."

"Yes, I agree, but that's something far off into the future—hopefully. What we need now is to determine where best to go from here."

From the front, Grandpa Shan stopped walking and turned back to us—he gave Wu a quick glance and steeled his features before looking me in the eye. "You and San need to obtain spirit bones," grandpa said. "The fastest way you can do so is by winning the continental spirit master academy competition."

It was always a delicate matter having to discuss matters of growth with a spirit beast turned human around. Not that she was unwelcome, but it wasn't made easy given how close our family's ties were to the more tragic of the two species. Every time San and I had to grow stronger, we would have to kill one of her people—it didn't do my conscience any good, nor was it right, but it was the way of the world. "But the risk of getting identified by Spirit Hall is too high, it's not impossible that me or San would be forced to use our Hammers sometime, me perhaps I can somewhat cope given these latest discoveries of mine, but eventually there will come a time."

"Fine," grandpa Lin said, "and how do you suppose you can achieve getting spirit bones besides that?" He grunted. "We know of the risks, and that's also why we'll be close by in case anything goes wrong."

"But if you do intervene, then that would bring Spirit Hall's notice to the sect," San added. "Little Jin has a point with what he wants, and sure we might be able to better spread the name of Shrek as well as find out where we stand in strength compared to others our age, but again, the risks…"

Grandpa Lin took a deep breath. "There's always the alternative of killing enough spirit beasts in order to achieve this goal."

Wu looked away.

"Perhaps," I said, "but then we'd be no better than Spirit Hall."

"Honor will not protect your life," grandpa Lin said.

I crossed my arms. Maybe if I never found out that Wu was a spirit beast, nor that soul shock was a thinG, I might've had a different stance, but as it was, I couldn't ignore the facts as they were. "And neither will behaving like a barbarian would."

"Perhaps there is a way…" Xiao Wu said.

All attention went to her.

She placed a hand over her heart and smiled at me. There was strength behind those eyes. "It seems little Jin has a conscience regarding spirit beasts, then perhaps… I started being of help."

Grandpa Shan stomped his foot down. "No little Wu. Not like this."

Grandpa Lin huffed. "We need you three to get stronger. All of you. No more family will be sacrificed."

Auntie gave Wu a pat on the head. "I've heard so much about you two you might as well be my favorite niece and nephew, and what kind of aunt would I be if I let anything bad happen to my precious little girl?"

Wu gently closed her eyes. "Thank you, everyone, but no, I did not mean that."

"Sacrifice?" San looked at Wu. "What did they mean about sacrifice?"

Wu faced San, her little shoulders dropping as she did. She looked to grandpa Shan, then grandpa Lin, and finally me. She extended a hand out for mine, and I took it.

Wu was shaking too faint to see, and her palm was cold.

"Ge," she said.

Wu tightened her grip on my fingers. Damn she was strong as fuck.

She continued, "Your little sister has something to confess."

"Xiao Wu?" San's brows drew a line and he pressed his lips together. "Is there anything wrong?"

Grandpa San and Lin bowed their heads, and auntie placed a hand on her shoulder. Also, I think something cracked in my hand just now.

"Ge, please don't be mad?" She stuck her tongue out with a playful gesture, but the way her voice softened said otherwise.

San steeled himself. "No matter what, you will always be my little sister."

He walked over and Wu held onto his hand.

She closed her eyes hard before opening them and staring straight into his soul.

"Ge, Wu is a spirit beast."

"I see," San said. He pulled Xiao Wu into his arms softly. She didn't resist. "It must have been difficult to keep this secret for so long."

Wu wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his robes. "It was," she said. "It was very difficult indeed."

San tightened his hug and stroked her hair. "It's alright," he said. "Ge will always be your big brother, and ge's promise will always stand. No one will ever hurt my little sister, they'd have to step over my dead body first."

I looked away then, and found I wasn't the only one. Auntie shot me a knowing look, and grandpa Shan was smiling and all satisfied with himself, even the always stern grandpa Lin knew better than to continue with his lecturing.

We lost steam after that with the things we were supposed to be doing, and in a way, it was a timely reminder of just what it was we were doing all this for. This fight with Spirit Hall wasn't just a grudge, but a fight for freedom and a fight for family. We were being hunted down like animals all because of a feud Spirit Hall started by denying my aunt Yin the life she could've had with uncle Hao and cousin San simply for being a spirit beast. It was, our sect's fault that we weren't strong enough to enforce her right to live, and given the situation with San and Wu, it was about time we atoned for that mistake.

Grandpa Lin put it down best, we weren't going to lose any more family. Not to this, and not to anything else.

However, it still didn't solve the fact I had to sacrifice others, but in the face of my family, my blood, being threatened, then so be it. They started all this. And it was we who would end it once and for all. One way or another.

San didn't sleep in his bed that night, and the following morning we found him in a flower bed asleep next to Wu with a comb in his hand. Boss Dai wanted to tease them awake, and I as the dutiful cousin, beat his and Hongjun's asses away from the two. Turns out getting punched by someone covered in electricity had the chance to paralyze someone from the spasms. I carried them away myself, and it took until lunch time before they got full feeling back into their legs.

Rongrong and Zhuqing fawned over the two lovebirds and Oscar, kinda went all over the place confessing his love to every girl he saw. And since boss Dai and Hongjun were still dealing with the effects of too much electricity to the balls, it fell to me to clean up after his mess. I must've ended up in a fight with at least three other people and another seven who surrendered before anything could start. The smallest spirit power gap was about eleven, and not a single one lasted longer than two punches once things got personal.

What's good though is at least I was able to practice those new techniques of mine. Overcharge had the possibility to increase the potency of my domain abilities by super charging them and concentrating the effect to a small point, and the other one I took to calling Embodiment since it spread onto my body the effect of my Domain. But the latter was overkill on these regular scrubs.

I used an Overcharged Devour against this one guy with a staff spirit. His first ability that launched a thrust I clashed with using the Overcharged Devour and the gold sphere it produced just ate up the spirit power from his ability to the point of deactivating it. After that I punched him in the face and hit him again with the Overcharged Devour at point blank after which the guy dried up like a sponge out of water. He didn't die though, so that was something good.

The next fight was with this beast spirit master with a gorilla spirit that got done in with one Overcharged Shock punch to the nuts, and the less said about his state after—spoiler, he didn't die—the better. He was too tall for me to reach properly so I attacked what I could reach, and the Overcharged Shock produced a large spark of electricity, enough to blind or electrocute with outright.

And last was an Overcharged Corrode which I had the good sense not to use on a person but instead demonstrated on a tree to scare off some weaklings. It disintegrated a chunk from the trunk as it exploded, and to use that on a person, well, at least it'd make clean up faster in the future.

By lunch time, rumors of an evil little kid bullying others had already made rounds and reached Rongrong who was socializing like a normal person with the other students in the school. I was praised by Flender and chastised by uncle for doing so, and after the food I asked for permission for me, San, and Wu to go visit Erlong with auntie later to iron out some details.

But then…

"Liu… Erlong?" Uncle clutched at his heart, before shoving Flender saying, "You knew about this, didn't you?"


End file.
